tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-68778895130633912662019-05-25T03:04:23.552-05:00Life in the MinorsMinor league baseball is a circus. So is this blog.gbroshuishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04209222117346858634noreply@blogger.comBlogger79125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6877889513063391266.post-28223752174124198372013-03-15T16:24:00.000-05:002013-03-15T16:24:34.893-05:00The Exploitation of the Minor Leaguer Continues in the States<style> <!-- /* Font Definitions */ @font-face {font-family:"Times New Roman"; panose-1:0 2 2 6 3 5 4 5 2 3; mso-font-alt:"Times New Roman"; mso-font-charset:0; mso-generic-font-family:auto; mso-font-pitch:variable; mso-font-signature:50331648 0 0 0 1 0;} /* Style Definitions */ p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal {mso-style-parent:""; margin:0in; margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:12.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman";} a:link, span.MsoHyperlink {color:blue; text-decoration:underline; text-underline:single;} a:visited, span.MsoHyperlinkFollowed {color:purple; text-decoration:underline; text-underline:single;} p {margin-right:0in; mso-margin-top-alt:auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto; margin-left:0in; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:10.0pt; font-family:Times;} table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-parent:""; font-size:10.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman";} @page Section1 {size:8.5in 11.0in; margin:1.0in 1.25in 1.0in 1.25in; mso-header-margin:.5in; mso-footer-margin:.5in; mso-paper-source:0;} div.Section1 {page:Section1;} --></style> <span style="font-size: small;">Nike abuses <a href="http://www.commondreams.org/headlines01/1020-01.htm">poor, hungry, and young workers</a><span style="font-size: small;"> </span>to make Air Jordans. Apple abuses <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2013/jan/25/apple-child-labour-supply">poor, hungy, and young</a><span style="font-size: small;"> </span>workers to make iPhones. And MLB abuses poor, hungry, and young workers to make star baseball players.&nbsp;</span><br /><br /> <span style="font-size: small;"><i>Mother Jones </i><span style="font-style: normal;">recently published a <a href="http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2013/03/baseball-dominican-system-yewri-guillen">terrific piece</a> by Ian Gordon that details the story of Yewri Guillén: a young, talented Dominican, signed by the Nationals, whose life came to a tragic end. It's a story that every baseball fan should read, as it illustrates what can happen when a powerful organization within an even more powerful cartel chooses to exploit a powerless and poor youth with dreams.&nbsp;</span></span><br /> <br /> <span style="font-size: small;">Here is an excerpt:&nbsp;</span><br /> <br /> <span style="font-size: small;"><i>There wasn't a certified athletic trainer, let alone a doctor, to evaluate Guillén at the Nationals' academy, a spartan training camp with cinder-block dorms. No one from the team accompanied him to Santo Domingo or intervened when he couldn't get into the Clínica Abreu. (The club didn't cover the costs of his treatment until after he was admitted to the Cuban-Dominican clinic.) And following Guillén's death, the club required his parents to sign a release before handing over his signing bonus and life insurance money—a document also stating that they would never sue the team or its employees.</i><span style="font-style: normal;"></span></span><br /> <br /> <span style="font-size: small;"><i>Guillén's death is the worst-case scenario in a recruiting system that <a href="http://americasquarterly.org/node/2745">treats young Dominicans as second-class prospects</a>, paying them far less than young Americans and sometimes denying them benefits that are standard in the US minor leagues, such as health insurance and professionally trained medical staff. MLB regulations allow teams to troll for talent on the cheap in the Dominican Republic: Unlike American kids, who must have completed high school to sign, Dominicans can be signed as young as 16, when their bodies and their skills are far less developed.</i><span style="font-style: normal;"></span></span><br /> <br /> <span style="font-size: small;">As the excerpt illustrates, the exploitation of the minor league player is most apparent in the Dominican. Of course, MLB teams have a long history of exploiting the minor leaguer. Ever since the days of Branch Rickey's farm system in the 1920s and 1930s--a system that at one point allowed the Cardinals to hold the property rights to over 600 players--teams have hoarded as many players as possible while paying them as little as possible.&nbsp;</span><br /> <br /> <span style="font-size: small;">For the past few decades, teams have found the Dominican (and Venezuela) to be a source of cheap talent. Teams seemed to operate under the modus operandi of sign them all, pay them little, and let the kids sort themselves out. Although international signing bonuses have risen considerably since 2000, teams continue to follow abusive labor policies, as the article—and the death of a young prospect—demonstrates.</span><br /> <br /> <span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;">Yet the article fails to mention another important point:</span> the exploitation of the minor leaguer continues in the States.&nbsp;</span><br /> <br /> <span style="font-size: small;">Ian Gordon's article is fabulous, but it neglects to tell the rest of the story--the story of many minor leaguers playing in the states. Since MLB operates under an antitrust exemption, teams can actively collude to control the labor cost in the development<span style="font-size: small;"> </span>of their prime commodity of baseball players. Our country's antitrust laws don't apply, so this collusive exercise of market power by the baseball cartel is legal.&nbsp;</span><br /> <br /> <span style="font-size: small;">The result: strikingly low salaries that have barely budged since the 1970s. Even in the states, most minor leaguers make <a href="http://www.baseballamerica.com/today/minors/business-beat/2009/267464.html">less than $10,000</a>, placing many below the <a href="http://aspe.hhs.gov/poverty/13poverty.cfm#thresholds">federal poverty guidelines</a>. The business of baseball--<a href="http://www.forbes.com/sites/chrissmith/2012/06/08/billionaires-like-warren-buffett-profit-from-minor-league-baseball-ownership/">including minor league baseball</a>--has thrived in the past two decades. Minor league baseball players contribute much to this business, but <a href="http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2147490">they receive little of the spoils</a>.&nbsp;</span><br /> <br /> <span style="font-size: small;">Some might argue that signing bonuses make up for these low salaries, but this is faulty logic. For instance, Gordon's article points out the difference in signing bonuses for the Dominican signee versus the American signee. Yet his numbers are misleading. In fact, they are inaccurate.&nbsp;</span><br /> <br /> <span style="font-size: small;">The article states that teams paid an average signing bonus of $232,000 to American players in 2011. However, teams do not publish the smaller signing bonuses paid to many American signees. In fact, most players drafted outside the top ten rounds sign for less than $10,000. Some players, especially college seniors, sign for as little as $1,000.&nbsp;Teams do not publish these figures.</span><br /> <br /> <span style="font-size: small;">Since these numbers are not reported, the data set used by Gordon was inaccurate. And even if a complete data set did exist, the high signing bonuses obtained by those at the very top would still skew the average signing bonus. A truer number would require both a) a complete data set, and b) the median instead of the mean.&nbsp;</span><br /> <br /> <span style="font-size: small;">This point is significant, as it demonstrates the number of players pinching pennies while chasing a dream. I've said this before, but it's worth saying again: minor leaguers don't expect to be compensated like orthopedic surgeons; however, they do deserve sufficient wages to eat some meals at Applebees instead of McDonald's, to live two per two-bedroom apartment <a href="http://www.baseballamerica.com/today/minors/season-preview/2010/269689.html">instead of six per two-bedroom</a> apartment, and to sleep on regular mattresses instead of air mattresses.&nbsp;</span><br /> <br /> <span style="font-size: small;">Yet when it comes to developing talent, teams are still operating in the 1930s. They hoard as many players as possible for as little money as possible. And since the antitrust laws don't apply, and since they ignore wage and hour laws, and since minor leaguers don't have a union, their power goes unchecked. To sum: yes, it’s true that the exploitation occurs at the grandest level in the Dominican, but it continues on minor league fields across the<span style="font-size: small;"> America</span>. And even if the abusive practices are less<span style="font-size: small;"> extreme </span>in the States, such behavior should still not be accepted.&nbsp;</span><br /><br /><span style="font-size: small;">Further reading: my draft of <i>Touching Baseball's Untouchables: The Effects of Collective Bargaining on Minor League Baseball P<span style="font-size: small;">layers</span></i><span style="font-size: small;"> (forthcoming in <span style="font-size: small;">the Harvard Journal of Sports and Entertainment <span style="font-size: small;">Law),&nbsp;<a href="http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2147490">http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2147490<span style="font-size: small;">.</span></a></span></span></span> </span><br /> gbroshuishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04209222117346858634noreply@blogger.com62tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6877889513063391266.post-57718000756164911612013-02-24T14:56:00.003-06:002014-01-20T21:23:59.277-06:00Fire and Ice: Not Missing the Stress of the Minor League SpringTwo weeks ago I made the following remark to a friend: "It's nice that winter is over."<br /><br />I made this comment after a couple weeks of mild weather. Yes, we had scarcely entered this <a href="http://www.crowl.org/lawrence/time/months.html#February">month of purification known as February</a> when I made this proclamation, but the flowers seemed to agree with me. All around campus, sprouts of tulips could be seen peeking through like a child cheating at hide and go seek, yearning to arrive just a little earlier than normal.<br /><br />Yet I--along with each foolish tulip--was wrong. This week the temperatures plummeted, and my house is now surrounded by ice and snow. And so I'm thinking about minor league baseball.<br /><br />My normal fifteen-minute commute turned into an hour-and-a-half bad dream on Thursday. In fact, my car never arrived home on Thursday, as a car, stalled a block from my house, impeded my final passage. I parked my own car in a parking lot and walked the final couple of blocks.<br /><br />For this reason, I should be yearning for the heat and the fiery sun of Arizona, my old spring training destination. But I'm not. <br /><br />Stress arrives in many forms for the minor league player during spring training. "What team will I make?" "Will I even have a job?" "Why did they sign another forty pitchers in last year's draft?" "And how come everyone seems to be throwing harder than me?" These types of questions stymy the minor league brain like the Arizona sun stymies moisture. <br /><br />Today, I want to briefly talk about another, often overlooked spring training stressor for the minor league player: financial stress. <br /><br />I've talked <a href="http://www.baseballamerica.com/today/minors/season-preview/2010/269689.html">elsewhere</a> about low minor league salaries, in <a href="http://minorleaguelife.blogspot.com/2010/03/more-on-playing-for-pennies.html">several places</a>. Because of these low salaries, an offseason job becomes paramount for many minor leaguers. Whether a player gives baseball lessons to kids or <a href="http://www.baseballamerica.com/today/minors/business-beat/2009/267464.html">delivers Jimmy Johns on a bike with no brakes</a>, the offseason job helps a player sustain himself. After all, players who did not receive large signing bonuses still have bills to pay: car payments, rent payments, phone payments, student loan payments, etc. People don't stop collecting bills just because you're chasing a dream.<br /><br />Players don't earn salaries during spring training.&nbsp;Thus, as you watch Grapefruit League highlights on ESPN this spring, remember the lowly minor leaguer. Remember the stress that this player is enduring as he chases his dream. It's a beautiful dream, and a dream worth living. But, like any good dream, it entails sacrifice.<br /><br />I played my six years in the minors, made my sacrifices, and <a href="http://www.baseballamerica.com/today/prospects/players-perspective/2010/269589.html">ultimately failed</a>. I've moved on to a normal life with a beautiful wife and a wonderful child. And we'll be playing in winter's last snow today instead of preparing for the fire of Arizona.<br /><br />At this point in my life, I'll take the ice over the fire.gbroshuishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04209222117346858634noreply@blogger.com36tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6877889513063391266.post-37747101516100949922013-02-08T13:30:00.000-06:002013-02-08T13:30:00.069-06:00Doug Clark: The Grinding Journeyman HeroThe movie <i>Rounders</i> teaches us that there are two types of gamblers. There's the gambler who makes a run at making it big, and there's the gambler that grinds it out.<br /><br />So too with baseball.<br /><br />Doug Clark is a grinder. I first met him in 2005 at the Giants' spring training camp. By then, he already possessed tweny-nine years, and, having been drafted in 1998, he already possessed the baseball equivalent of hair on his chest.<br /><br />I entered spring training that year filled with wonderment and uncertainty. After all, it was my first spring training. Doug entered spring training that year cool and composed. It was his seventh spring training.<br /><br />After spring training, we made our separate ways. I played with him briefly at the end of 2005 when I played a fleeting 10-day stint in Triple-A. The next season, he played in the A's organization, and I never played with him again.<br /><br />Doug made short appearances in the big leagues in both 2005 and 2006. With one hit in twelve at-bats, he never played in the big leagues again. I knew he went to Korea for a couple of seasons, but I assumed that, by now, he would be retired. After all, I've been retired for three years already.<br /><br />I was wrong.<br /><br />This morning I woke up and saw the highlights of the final game of the Caribbean World Series. To my surprise, <a href="http://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/index.php/doug-clark-finds-his-spotlight/">Doug Clark hit the game-winning homerun</a>.<br /><br />At thirty-six, he's still grinding it out. He might not love the game the way that he once loved it. The twinkle in the eye and that naive wonderment, the beautiful and raw emotions that I possessed that spring training of 2005,<span id="goog_1974652034"></span><a href="http://www.blogger.com/"></a><span id="goog_1974652035"></span> have long left Doug. But he's earning a good living, playing a boyhood game.<br /><br />He may not be Joseph Campbell's <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Hero_with_a_Thousand_Faces">Hero with a Thousand Faces</a>, but today, somewhere in Mexico, he's a hero just the same. gbroshuishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04209222117346858634noreply@blogger.com21tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6877889513063391266.post-72195352928541999182013-01-21T15:30:00.000-06:002013-01-21T15:30:00.788-06:00Minor League ClawbacksRecently, I had the good fortune of having <a href="http://slu.edu/Documents/law/Law%20Journal/Archives/LJ57-1_Broshuis_Article.pdf">an article</a>&nbsp;published by&nbsp;<a href="http://slu.edu/school-of-law-home/academics/journals/slu-law-journal">the Saint Louis University Law Journal</a>. The article, entitled "Deterring Opportunism Through Clawbacks: Lessons for Executive Compensation from Minor League Baseball," compares the clawbacks found in standard MiLB contracts with clawbacks in executive compensation contracts.&nbsp;<div><br /></div><div>So, what the heck is a clawback? Well, it's basically some verbiage in a contract that allows for money already given to a person to be taken back--or "clawed" back--if a certain event occurs.&nbsp;</div><div><br /></div><div>What the heck do clawbacks have to do with minor league baseball? As the article details on page 200 (no, the article isn't 200 pages--it begins on page 185 of the issue and goes for 30 pages), the Commissioner's office introduced "recommended" clawback language for minor league contracts in 2006. By 2007, almost all teams had adopted the language.&nbsp;</div><div><br /></div><div>The language involved signing bonuses. MLB teams had been burned in recent years by a few draftees who had taken large signing bonuses and simply walked away from the game after a year or two in the minors. For instance, Ryan Jaroncyk signed with the Mets in 1995 for $850,000, played two years in the minors, and retired from the game at the age of twenty. The Mets never recovered a dime of the bonus.&nbsp;</div><div><br /></div><div>The <a href="http://slu.edu/Documents/law/Law%20Journal/Archives/LJ57-1_Broshuis_Article.pdf">article</a>&nbsp;details other examples: Grant Desme, who retired to become a priest; Justin Hoyman, who pocketed a $725,000 before retiring after two years in the minors; Quan Cosby, who left the minors to play football; and Tom Wilhelmsen, who retired from the game after "a lot of beer and grass."&nbsp;</div><div><br /></div><div>Most of the clawback provisions adopted by teams were identical. If a player retired prior to the expiration of his standard seven-year contract, the provision allowed the team to claw back a portion of the signing bonus. They mostly followed the same basic formula: if a player retired after a single season, the team could demand the return of 6/7 of the signing bonus; if a player retired after two seasons, the team could the return of 5/7 of the signing bonus; and so on until the end of the contract.&nbsp;</div><div><br /></div><div>I argue in my article that the clawbacks effectively deter opportunistic behavior. As the above examples demonstrate, occasionally players desire to leave their contracts very early in their careers. Jaroncyk provides an example of a player who probably never even intended to put forth a good faith effort to make it to the majors. Others intend to put forth such an effort, but minor league baseball can take a toll on a young athlete. Long bus rides, the absence of your family, the inevitable struggles and failures, and the exhaustion of playing every day can make one desire to run back home to your high school girlfriend and be a rodeo clown.&nbsp;</div><div><br /></div><div>The clawback provisions prevent players such as Jaroncyk from gaming the system. And they prevent other homesick players from leaving the game prior to giving it full consideration, which might ultimately help both the team and the player. Thus, they are an effective tool from a contractual standpoint.&nbsp;</div><div><br /></div><div>Now, this is a blog that advocates for the rights of minor league players. And one important thing about clawbacks needs to be brought to attention here: the mechanism in which these provisions were adopted was unfair.</div><div><br /></div><div>MLB teams unilaterally included these provisions in their standard minor league contracts. While a few of the top players drafted each year may in fact have the leverage to negotiate such provisions out of their contracts, most minor leaguers do not possess such leverage. After all, the Rule 4 draft exists in order to reduce players' leverage. Players can only negotiate with a single team, and they only have one or two opportunities to do so. For those drafted after the first few rounds, the contract nearly becomes a take-it-or-leave-it instrument, such is the state of their relative bargaining power.</div><div><br /></div><div>Thus, the unilateral inclusion of the terms was unfair, even if the provisions are both legal and useful from a contractual standpoint. This again highlights the need for a minor league union. Such a union could effectively re-balance the relative bargaining power between owners and minor leaguers. Instead of unilateral implementation, the terms of such clawback provisions could be discussed between both parties to ensure that their inclusion does not become too draconian for the player.&nbsp;</div><div><br /></div><div>As I write about separately in a&nbsp;<a href="http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2147490">forthcoming article in the Harvard Journal of Sports and Entertainment Law</a>, the big leaguers' union (the MLBPA) has a poor recent history of standing up for minor leaguers. In fact, they've <a href="http://minorleaguelife.blogspot.com/2011/12/voiceless-cbas-negative-impact-on-minor.html">recently traded away</a>&nbsp;some bargaining chips with negative implications for minor leaguers in order to secure higher wages and other benefits for big leaguers. Yet in this instance, the MLBPA did the right thing.&nbsp;</div><div><br /></div><div>In the last round of bargaining, the MLBPA brought up the length of the clawback provisions. After discussions, MLB and the MLBPA agreed that clawback provisions may continue to be included in minor league contracts, but the length of the provisions must vary according to the signing bonus. For instance, longer clawback provisions may be included for bonuses above $1,000,000 than for smaller signing bonuses. In fact, for signing bonuses under $250,000, the clawback may only extend through the first three years of the standard seven-year contract.&nbsp;</div><div><br /></div><div>This makes sense. The larger bonuses should be the chief concern of the teams. Teams shouldn't be in the business of forcing a fifth-year senior college signee into staying until the end of his contract just because he doesn't want to pay back a portion of the $2500 signing bonus that he no longer has.&nbsp;</div><div><br /></div><div>In the end, then, this is a double lesson. It's a lesson in how, without a union representing them, owners can do just about whatever the heck they want with minor league contracts. And it's also a lesson in how a union can effectively re-balance the mismatched bargaining power and ensure that players are properly represented. Once this occurs, both sides often benefit.&nbsp;</div><div><br /></div><div>Now about those minor league salaries . . .</div>gbroshuishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04209222117346858634noreply@blogger.com18tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6877889513063391266.post-44868361131242954082013-01-18T14:38:00.000-06:002013-01-18T14:38:38.940-06:00Baseball Players Can Have Imaginary Girlfriends TooHe was 23. He was a professional baseball player. He was a cool, good looking guy. He could've gotten almost any girl.<br /><br />Instead, he had an imaginary, online girlfriend.<br /><br />A few years back, while still kicking around the minors, a buddy from another team told me a story. Although a terrific story, I'd forgotten about it until the tide of Twitterverse nearly swept me out to sea with a tall-Te'o tale. From this Te'o swell, it all came rushing back to me. I went back to my journal from that year (yes, I'm that big of a nerd), and this is what I read. <br /><br />The player met a girl online. The pictures showed a gorgeous girl with a smokin' body. He began chatting with her regularly. Before long, they were talking on the phone.<br /><br />A few weeks later, he began asking her to come to a game. She kept declining. Finally, she said she would come. She never showed.<br /><br />He called her after the game. "I got tied up at work," she said.<br /><br />A couple weeks later, the player had an off day. He attempted to visit her in the City. She was going to meet him when he got off the train. He got off the train. He waited. And waited. And waited. He called. And called. And called.<br /><br />Finally, she answered: "My grandma is sick. I can't meet you."<br /><br />He became obsessed with this girl. Pictures were texted to him. He texted pictures back. They talked on the phone for an hour each night.<br /><br />A month later, he talked her into coming to another game. She never showed. Again, she couldn't escape work.<br /><br />He kept talking to her each night. His friends on the team--already suspicious--began asking him questions. He told them not to worry about it.<br /><br />He began distancing himself from these teammates. He had been one of the cool guys. He went out with teammates, played cards, and played video games. Now he just talked on the phone every night.<br /><br />The offseason came, and most teammates thought the "relationship" would end. But spring training arrived, and there the player was, talking to the girl each night.<br /><br />By the time I heard the story, a year had passed. The two had never met, but they talked to each other every night. She was still his girlfriend. And he had no other girlfriends and wasn't looking. He wasn't happy, but he couldn't escape.<br /><br />What does this mean? Even the best of us occasionally have trouble separating the real from the surreal. Some have more difficulty than others.<br /><br />Take a person susceptible to this and remove them from their family--their support group. Put them in a dream world, in which they're either chasing a boyhood dream in the minor leagues or living a dream by playing college football at the highest level. Fans ask for autographs. Kids yell their name.<br />The separation between real and unreal becomes blurry.<br /><br />Suddenly they meet a girl online. They go down the path, as many have done, and they like the path initially. But it begins to spin out of control. They become suspicious no doubt. But they've already gone down the path, and they're too embarrassed to fix things. And they like talking to this person.<br /><br />So they keep following the path, to nowhere . . .gbroshuishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04209222117346858634noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6877889513063391266.post-29437464884536801172013-01-09T12:06:00.003-06:002013-01-09T12:29:18.585-06:00Their Own Hall of ShameMany people have written a lot more about the Hall of Fame voting than I will write today. But for the most part, the expansiveness of the literature has merely muddled the dialogue. The goal of this short post is to simplify and clarify this discussion.<br /><br />The first step towards such a clarification is to realize that there are really two different discussions. The question of whether certain individuals <i>deserve</i> to be in the Hall differs from whether certain individuals <i>should</i> be in the Hall. This proposition, at first glance, seems counterintuitive. But it will become clearer as we explore this further.<br /><br /><u>Do Bonds and others <i>deserve</i> to be in the Hall?</u><br /><br />Bonds, Clemens, Sosa and the other known cheaters do not deserve to be in the Hall.<br /><br />Getting to this point first involves a decision on whether they actually cheated. Many philosophers have argued that their behavior did not constitute cheating for a couple of reasons. First, they argue that the high level of steroid usage during their playing days diminished any unfair advantage. The lack of enforcement in the era and the high usage supports this argument. After all, advantages disappear whenever a substance is widely available. Second, some argue that there is no clear link between steroid usage and performance. Some statistical support exists for this argument, but physics and medical studies greatly contradict this argument. In short, I dismiss this argument.<br /><br />As I write more thoroughly in a <a href="http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/cf_dev/AbsByAuth.cfm?per_id=1571396">forthcoming law review article</a>, this positivistic stance is unsatisfying. There must be a moral component to the approach towards cheating in baseball, and this moral component should be reflected in Hall of Fame voting. Yes, usage was rampant. Yes, the rules were not enforced. But this still involved a moral choice. Players knew that their behavior was wrong, and yet they chose to behave in such a manner anyways. And they were rewarded handsomely for this immoral choice.<br /><br />Since this is a blog on life in the minors, imagine that you are a Triple-A baseball player. We'll say you are an outfielder. You have similar skills to another outfielder in the organization. You choose not to use steroids; your teammate chooses to use steroids. Your teammate suddenly hits more homeruns, steals more bases, and covers more ground in the outfield. The team promotes your teammate while you continue to languish in the minors. Your teammate makes millions of dollars, maybe makes two All-Star teams, and enjoys pension benefits for his lifetime. You go home after a couple more years in the minors and struggle to find a job to feed your family.<br /><br />This was the basic moral decision that thousands of ballplayers made. The players who chose to take steroids made an immoral choice. They benefited greatly from that immoral choice over the course of their careers, and they continue to benefit from that choice.<br /><br />These cheaters should not be recognized any further for their tainted greatness. They should not win any more awards. The greatest of them should not be in the Hall of Fame.<br /><br /><i><u>Should</u></i><u> Bonds and the others be in the Hall?</u><br /><br />This is a separate and more difficult question to answer. While the cheaters do not deserve to be in the Hall, it is almost impossible to separate the cheaters from the non-cheaters. Where is the line drawn? On positive tests alone? On connections to performance enhancing drugs? All of these standards have their problems.<br /><br />The era was so tainted with suspicion that it is difficult to label any player. Almost any standard will result in a plethora of false positives and false negatives. Thus, it's difficult to find any workable standard.<br /><br />It might be best to look at history. Again, as I discuss thoroughly in my <a href="http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/cf_dev/AbsByAuth.cfm?per_id=1571396">forthcoming law review article</a>, organized baseball has a rich history of cheating. Previous pitchers who openly doctored baseballs have been admitted into the Hall. For instance, Gaylord Perry wrote an autobiography called "Me and the Spitter," and yet writers inducted him into the Hall. He achieved his greatness through known cheating. Even though his cheating involved an external manipulation in the form of ball doctoring instead of an internal manipulation in the form of body morphication, his achievements were similarly tainted. And yet he, and other traditional cheaters, have been admitted.<br /><br />History thus supports the admission of these players into the Hall, even though they don't truly deserve such admission. Moreover, the lack of a workable standard supports such an admission.<br /><br /><u>Conclusion</u> <br /><br />At the end of the day, baseball writers must make a moral choice. Those that tell them to "get off their high horse" are simply wrong. Cheating is a moral issue. The players made a moral choice when they decided to use performance enhancers. The baseball writers must assess the effects of this moral choice when making their decisions.<br /><br />Are the baseball writers then judging the players? Yes, in a way they are. Would many of the baseball writers have made the same choice as the cheating players had they been players? Undeniably so. But that does not make their current decision hypocritical, as it is a hypothetical discussion. One must instead deal with realities. The baseball writers are the ones to make the choice, and it must be a moral one.<br /><br />Again, Bonds and the others do not deserve to be in the Hall. Even though this would be a retroactive reaction, deterrence supports such a retroactive reaction. At a basic level, it differs only slightly from stripping Tour de France titles from a certain cyclist.<br /><br />For this reason, I would be more than fine with these players not being in the Hall. But because of the history of admitting other cheaters, and because of the lack of a workable standard, these players should probably still be admitted.<br /><br />Maybe we'll give them a separate wing in the Hall, where they may forever congregate in a Hall of Shame.&nbsp; <br /><br /><br />gbroshuishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04209222117346858634noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6877889513063391266.post-57048589359054233232012-08-01T10:09:00.000-05:002012-08-01T10:09:58.535-05:00Squeezing a Squeezed LemonThe market for amateur baseball players operates as anything but a free market. Instead, the draft creates a tightly controlled and restricted market, as it only allows an amateur player to bargain with a single team. In this way, the draft squeezes the player like a lemon, and the team walks away with sweet lemonade.<br /><br />The most recent CBA made changes to further squeeze this already squeezed lemon. It placed strict caps on the amount teams can spend on draft picks and instituted harsh penalties--such as the loss of subsequent draft picks--for exceeding these limits.<br /><br />As I predicted in an <a href="http://minorleaguelife.blogspot.com/2011/12/voiceless-cbas-negative-impact-on-minor.html">earlier post</a>, further restricting an already restricted market had a negative impact on spending. In fact, spending by MLB teams in this year's draft <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/nationals/ap-newsbreak-spending-drops-11-percent-in-major-league-baseball-draft-under-new-restrictions/2012/07/18/gJQADHOktW_story.html">dropped 11%</a> from the previous year.<br /><br />This 11% drop resulted in teams spending <i>$25.8 million less</i> in 2012 than in 2011. That's an average of $860,000 less per team. Where does all this money go? Well, the CBA fails to directly answer that. But indirectly the answer is found.<br /><br />The money saved will go to major league salaries, as the new CBA requires MLB minimum salaries to increase dramatically over the next few years. I talked at length in the <a href="http://minorleaguelife.blogspot.com/2011/12/voiceless-cbas-negative-impact-on-minor.html">earlier post</a> about the MLBPA selling out minor league players. I won't bother you again with such talk, but I will make a couple of other points.<br /><br />Incredibly, the $860,000 average savings per team could nearly double most minor league salaries if it were spent on minor leaguers. A first-year Double-A player <a href="http://minorleaguelife.blogspot.com/2010/03/more-on-playing-for-pennies.html">makes around $7500</a> <i>for the entire season</i>. Those in lower levels make even less. While the number of minor leaguers within an organization varies greatly, a reasonable estimate can be made for the amount of players at Double-A and below. For this calculation, we'll say a team retains around 120 players at Double-A and below. While some of these players are at Double-A, most are at lower levels, so we'll assume an average salary of $6,000 per year for these 120 players. What does doubling every one of these 120 salaries require? $720,000.<br /><br />Most of the minor leaguers would see their salaries doubled, and teams would still be left with an extra $140,000 in their pockets. While not all Triple-A salaries could be doubled with this leftover amount (since more minor league free agents and former major leaguers play in Triple-A), this money could easily be used to double the salaries for the Triple-A players playing under the terms of their original minor league agreements. After all, a first-year Triple-A player makes only a little more than $10,000.<br /><br />Of course, none of this will happen. Minor league salaries have hardly budged in 35 years. Why would they increase now? Instead, many players will continue to live below the poverty line, and baseball's <a href="http://www.npr.org/news/specials/democracy/money/bosses_900.jpg">Robber Barons</a> of the New Gilded Age will continue to profit.<br /><br />(Thanks to Luke Erickson's <a href="http://nationalsprospects.com/2011/12/winter-league-roundup-7/">post</a> for the Robber Barons analogy.) <b>&nbsp;</b><br /><br /><b>OTHER LINKS</b> <b>&nbsp;</b><br /><br /><b>A Possible NCAA/MLB Scholarship Partnership?</b><br /><br />I recently wrote an article for <i>Baseball America</i> entitled <a href="http://www.baseballamerica.com/today/prospects/players-perspective/2012/2613727.html">"Beware MLB, NCAA Joint Venture"</a>. Here's a little snippet from it: <i>&nbsp;</i><br /><br /><i>I fear that baseball might be taking steps towards an NFL type of model. While this might be great for college baseball and great for the owners' bottom line, it wouldn't be great for players. It would take away players' freedom of choice, and it would shave away earning years from an athletes' short earning window. And, as stated above, there are better ways to court young athletes, chiefly through the already existing model.&nbsp;</i><br /><i>Again, I'm all for helping athletes get college degrees. But when two cartels start cooperating with one another, I'm immediately wary. Any resulting gift is most likely not what it seems.&nbsp;</i><br /><br />&nbsp;<b><i>Indianapolis Star</i> Article on Minor League Unionization</b><br /><br />James Oldham of the <i>Indianapolis Star</i> also wrote a very good <a href="http://www.indystar.com/article/20120705/SPORTS18/207050352/Minor-league-players-not-jumping-unionizing">article</a> recently on the obstacles to unionizing the minor leagues. It's worth the read.gbroshuishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04209222117346858634noreply@blogger.com35tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6877889513063391266.post-45061226526300079582012-04-09T19:46:00.002-05:002012-04-09T20:43:20.660-05:00More on "Emancipation of the Minors"About two months ago, a freelance journalist contacted me. She was interested in some issues affecting minor league players. I happily answered all her preliminary questions. Since she was not the first freelance journalist to contact me about minor league issues, I assumed that, like most of the others, I would never hear from her again.<br /><br />About two weeks later, the freelancer called me again. She had done some more research, and she had some more questions. And they were good questions. I again happily answered them. To my surprise, she called again a couple weeks later with more questions. I could tell a story was coming into being.<br /><br />Lily Rothman's <a href="http://www.slate.com/articles/sports/sports_nut/2012/04/minor_league_union_thousands_of_pro_baseball_players_make_just_1_100_per_month_where_is_their_c_sar_ch_vez_.html">article</a> appeared on <span style="font-style: italic;">Slate</span> last week. It was wonderful. Titled "Emancipation of the Minors," it quickly detailed the current labor status of the minor league player, as the introductory paragraph demonstrates:<br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">"In one of America’s most fabled industries, there’s a hidden underclass of workers that has a starting salary of $1,100 a month and gets paid for only half the year. They are subject to territorial monopolies, restrictions on labor movement, and caps on salaries that are illegal in other businesses. Though not members of a union, their lives are influenced by one of the most powerful labor associations in the country, a group whose members—people who work in the same industry for the same organizations and were once in the same position—have a vested interest in keeping them down. They are minor-league baseball players."</span><br /><br />The article contains quotes from heavyweights such as Gene Orza and Marvin Miller, and, with one exception, it's magnificent. The one problem with it comes from an unlikely source: Jim Bouton. The author of <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Ball-Four-Jim-Bouton/dp/0020306652">baseball's original insider memoir</a> offered an uneducated, callous take on minor leaguers:<br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">“[Minor leaguers] bargain for their talent in a free market like everybody else does,” he says. If you’re a believer in laissez-faire capitalism, you can argue there’s no such thing as an unfair salary in baseball. Although Bouton admits that many young players get remarkably low wages, “they don’t have to accept the team that drafted them. They can continue playing amateur baseball; they can go back to college.”</span><br /><br />Now, I'm as big of a supporter of the free market as anyone. But you have to be an idiot if you think this is the free market at work. In fact, this is the exact opposite of the free market. This is a monopoly at work.<br /><br />Baseball strictly controls the market for minor leaguers through the draft. Instead of being able to "bargain for their talent in a free market," they can only bargain with the single team that drafted them. Bouton says "they don't have to accept the team that drafted them," but this is just ridiculous. After all, a minor leaguer is chasing a childhood dream. The only team with bargaining rights to the player might offer a $1000 signing bonus and $5500 per year, and a starry-eyed twenty-one-year-old isn't going to turn it down. <br /><br />To illustrate the difference between a free market at work and <a href="http://www.thefreedictionary.com/monopolism">monopolism</a> at work, I'll provide two quick examples. The first is familiar. In January, 2010, Aroldis Chapman <a href="http://minorleaguelife.blogspot.com/2010/01/chapping-my.html">reached a deal</a> with the Cincinnati Reds for $30 million. Yes, Chapman can probably throw a baseball through a cinder block, but there was another equally talented young pitcher who signed only six months prior to Chapman. Yet <a href="http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=4403920">Stephen Strasburg received only $15.1 million</a>.<br /><br />What was the difference? Certainly not talent. Strasburg not only throws bullets, but he also spins a breaking ball that appears as if it's going to fall off Niagara. The only difference lies in the fact that Chapman, as a Cuban defector, was able to negotiate with all thirty teams. Strasburg, on the other hand, could only bargain with the team who drafted him.<br /><br />Another example occurred almost twenty years ago. In 1996, Scott Boras and other agents found a loophole in the draft process to secure free agency for four talented amateur players. By bypassing the draft, the four players could bargain on the free market with any team. Two players netted more than <span style="font-style: italic;">$10 million</span>. The highest previous amount secured by a player who had gone through the draft paled in comparison, as the dual sport Josh Booty received only $1.6 million. (See Allan Simpson's excellent article on this and the entire history of the draft <a href="http://www.baseballamerica.com/today/2005draft/050604bonus.html">here</a>.) <br /><br />Of course, in the end Bouton's comment is not surprising. He's certainly not alone in feeling this way. I've heard similar--if not harsher--comments from many major leaguers. To all too many of them, the minor leagues are a long forgotten, repressed memory. Better to keep them out of sight, and out of mind.gbroshuishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04209222117346858634noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6877889513063391266.post-19622722811220352162011-12-03T14:35:00.003-06:002011-12-03T15:10:06.144-06:00Voiceless: The CBA's negative impact on minor leaguers<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:200%">Around 2 a.m. the baby began crying. Elena, already with a mind of her own, decided that the middle of the night was a perfect opportunity to play.</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:200%">Eventually she went back to sleep. My mind began to drift, and I wandered from the comfy confines of my bed, my Venus at my side, to the uncomfy confines of an old friend: a shoddy bus seat.</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:200%">Surrounded by other guys with the moon providing the only light, the engine whirred as Ryan Adams burst through my earbuds.</p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:200%"> <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YeuFOC9EfFw&amp;noredirect=1"><i>“Going nuclear…nuclear…”&gt;</i></a></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:200%"> The wilderness separating two working class towns passed as I glanced outside the bus window, my heart heavy but my wallet light. </p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:200%"> <i>“Give me an answer!!! Give me an answer!!”</i></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:200%"> And suddenly the baby was crying again. </p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:200%"> I awoke from my travels, the memory flickering but failing to flee, as thoughts filled the slow synapses of my brain. The memory had no doubt been prompted by two emails that I received recently from former teammates. Both were upset about the recent CBA. I couldn’t sleep as I thought of these emails and the feeling of being on the road again with no money and a dream, and McDonald’s providing the fuel for each night’s game. </p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:200%"> So at 3:47 a.m. I got up and wrote this.</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:200%">As most readers know, baseball recently <a href="http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20111122&amp;content_id=26025274&amp;vkey=news_mlb&amp;c_id=mlb">announced its new five-year collective bargaining agreement.</a> As opposed to both football and basketball, MLB reps and the MLBPA bargained behind closed doors and hammered out a deal.</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:200%">Yes, we should cheer. (As did <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/nationals/baseballs-new-collective-bargaining-agreement-is-a-remarkable-moment/2011/11/22/gIQAurMTmN_story.html">this columnist</a>.)</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:200%">Yet there was just one problem with this bargaining process. The majority of professional baseball players had no voice during these negotiations.</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:200%">The Major League Baseball Player’s Association represents only major league players and players on the 40-man roster. However, the vast majority of professional players under contract with MLB teams toil in the minor leagues. The player’s union does not represent these players.</p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:200%"> Without a union and without a voice, minor league salaries have <a href="http://minorleaguelife.blogspot.com/2010/03/more-on-playing-for-pennies.html">barely budged in the last 35 years.</a> Conversely, average major league salaries have increased by <i>almost 7000 percent</i>. The gains derived from three decades of great prosperity in the game—including gains made in the business of the minor leagues—have been distributed only at the very top.</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:200%">Each time a bargaining agreement is reached it impacts minor leaguers’ lives. For instance, the <a href="http://www.minorleaguebaseball.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20061130&amp;content_id=146939&amp;vkey=news_milb&amp;fext=.jsp">2006 CBA made a significant change to the Rule 5 draft.</a> One of the only vehicles for mobility once a minor leaguer is locked into his initial seven-year contract, the 2006 CBA pushed back the Rule 5 eligibility requirements by an entire year. The result was a direct, negative impact on minor leaguers. And not a single soul represented minor league players through the negotiating process.</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:200%">During this year’s negotiations, MLB owners pushed for a mandatory slotting system for the amateur draft (here are some of my <a href="http://minorleaguelife.blogspot.com/2009/10/future-slot-system-where-does-money-go.html">old thoughts</a> on this). If implemented, players drafted in the top rounds of the draft would have been unable to negotiate signing bonuses. Since virtually all draftees first enter the minor leagues, this too would have impacted minor league players. Minor leaguers earn only between $5000 and $10,000 <i style="text-indent: 48px; ">for an entire season of play</i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="text-indent: 48px; ">. This makes the negotiation of the initial signing bonus very important, as many players rely on the signing bonus as a source of income throughout their minor league career. Moreover, around ninety percent of minor leaguers never reach the major leagues, so the negotiation of the initial signing bonus often represents their only chance to negotiate with a MLB team.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:200%">Thankfully, a mandatory slotting system was not instituted, but the alternative is almost as egregious. The union and owners agreed to place a cap on the amount a team can spend on the draft. While less intrusive than mandatory slotting, the change will still negatively impact minor league players, as it will likely reduce the overall amount spent on signing bonuses.</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:200%">What did the union get in return for these changes? Greater wealth for players on an MLB roster. In 2006, they gained an increase in salaries for players on the MLB 40-man roster. This year, they gained a substantial increase in the minimum salary for MLB players, who will now earn at minimum $500,000 when the agreement expires in 2016. Meanwhile, the majority of professional baseball players—the minor leaguers—will probably still be earning below $10,000 in 2016. After all, their salaries have barely budged in three decades, and without representation in the bargaining process, there will be no incentive for owners to increase their salaries.<span class="Apple-style-span" style="text-indent: 48px; "> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:200%">Knowing this might occur, I wrote to both MLB and MLBPA during the negotiations. I knew my efforts would most likely be futile, but just as the author of an <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amicus_curiae">amicus curiae</a> feels compelled to weigh in on a Supreme Court issue, I felt the need to give my thoughts. </p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:200%">So yes, we should cheer baseball for reaching a new deal, but we shouldn't cheer them for leaving minor leaguers without a voice. But, hey, at least the big leaguers are seeing their lives improve. </p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in;line-height:200%">(<a href="http://mlb.mlb.com/mlb/downloads/2011_CBA.pdf">See the summary of the 2011 CBA here.</a>)</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in;line-height:200%"><i>Note: I'm not blaming MLBPA for the negative effects that each CBA has on minor league players. Their duty extends only towards the players that they represent. When negotiations affect minor league players, it does so because a subject of bargaining tangentially extends into the realm of minor leaguers, such as the Rule 5 draft and the Rule 4 draft. Without MLBPA bargaining over these matters, MLB could unilaterally impose whatever changes they desired without any resistance.</i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in;line-height:200%"><i>The system--not MLBPA--is at fault. </i></p> <!--EndFragment-->gbroshuishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04209222117346858634noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6877889513063391266.post-68660852606288804582010-11-16T09:45:00.002-06:002010-11-16T09:58:06.874-06:00Tobacco and Baseball<!--StartFragment--> <p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:200%"><i>Dip in a lip. </i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:200%"><i></i>That’s the image that greeted me when I recently turned into a postseason thriller. </p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:200%"><i>And spit.</i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:200%"><i></i>A single close-up from the camera revealed the unmistakable tobacco bulge. A multitude of others also witnessed the brown stain on the lip. I think its time to curb these images, as MLB needs to ban the on-field usage of tobacco.</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:200%">According to one study, around a third of MLB players use smokeless tobacco, and a fourth of minor leaguers use the substance. In my estimation, the true numbers are probably higher. Tobacco is legal and athletes are grown men, but a ban has nothing to do with them, even though tobacco cessation would obviously be beneficial to individuals. Instead a ban focuses on young eyes.</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:200%">Research shows that teens increased their smokeless tobacco usage in recent years. Like it or not, athletes are role models (sorry, Charles Barkley), as kids emulate them. Athletes today enjoy greater exposure than ever. Consequently, their tobacco usage gains more exposure. The World Series averaged 19.4 million viewers in 2009. Though World Series ratings were lower this year, overall playoff ratings were strong. And the Internet offers seemingly endless possibilities for exposure.</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:200%">Some experts think this exposure has contributed to the increase in smokeless tobacco usage by teens. Despite smoking percentages decreasing, it seems “dip in a lip” is making a strong comeback.</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:200%">This is worrisome. Though less likely to cause death than cigarettes, smokeless tobacco contains 28 different carcinogens linked to numerous varieties of cancer. If you’ve ever seen a picture of a guy without a jawbone, you’ve seen its nasty capabilities.</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:200%">I must admit that I am not without fault. Though never a frequent user, I tried the distasteful substance during my playing days. As a minor leaguer, my behavior broke the rules, as minor league baseball banned the usage of tobacco products in 1993.</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:200%">Currently, the minor leagues impose a $500 fine for a player caught with tobacco and a $500 fine for the team’s manager. These fines, in comparison to minor league salaries, are exorbitant. One would think that they would sufficiently deter players from using. Yet they don’t.</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:200%">Research shows that the likelihood of being caught is more important than the severity of punishment in deterring undesirable actions. Since very few players are ever actually caught using tobacco despite overt usage, the severe fines for minor leaguers have little deterrent effect. A system of lower fines with actual enforcement would more effectively reduce on-field tobacco usage.</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:200%">Major League Baseball, as opposed to the minors, doesn’t even have a ban on tobacco usage. Players can pack an entire can of dip in their mouth and walk up to the plate with spit spilling down their chin if they so desire. No one will stop them, and millions of kids—future possible tobacco users—will witness it.</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:200%">This use should be prohibited during games. MLB and the player’s union should work together on this issue and take a sensible approach: ban on-field usage of tobacco, implement a system of reasonable punishments, and actually enforce the ban with regularity.</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:200%">Players will no doubt balk at such a move as an infringement upon their liberties, but if such a ban spares lives and jaws, then the policy would be worthwhile.</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in;line-height:200%"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">A couple of links for further reading: </span></p><!--StartFragment--> <p class="MsoNormal"><a href="http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE63D4QZ20100414">http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE63D4QZ20100414</a></p> <!--EndFragment--> <!--StartFragment--> <p class="MsoNormal"><a href="http://blogs.abcnews.com/theworldnewser/2010/04/chewing-skoal-baseball-field-ruined-life.html">http://blogs.abcnews.com/theworldnewser/2010/04/chewing-skoal-baseball-field-ruined-life.html</a></p> <!--EndFragment--> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in;line-height:200%"> </p> <!--EndFragment-->gbroshuishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04209222117346858634noreply@blogger.com80tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6877889513063391266.post-54325538788907337912010-11-05T08:31:00.008-05:002010-11-05T08:40:06.896-05:00New "Suitcase Chronicles" entry: When Old Friends Get a RingYes, this is a rarity these days, but I took a few minutes away from summary judgment lectures to put some thoughts on paper (so to speak). It's about my former Giants' teammates winning it all. <div><br /><div>So, without further introduction, here's an excerpt from my latest <a href="http://www.baseballamerica.com/today/prospects/prospect-diary/2010/2610888.html">"Suitcase Chronicles"</a> entry: </div><div><br /></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" line-height: 18px; font-family:Verdana, Helvetica, Arial;font-size:12px;">Some people told me recently I contributed to this championship moment simply by playing in the minors with these guys. Perhaps, in some distant, metaphysical way. But I downplay this. Nothing I did ever prepared Posey for catching Lincecum. Nothing I ever did helped Romo throw his signature slider. They learned these things on their own. I taught them nothing.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" line-height: 18px; font-family:Verdana, Helvetica, Arial;font-size:12px;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" line-height: 18px; font-family:Verdana, Helvetica, Arial;font-size:12px;">Yet we were friends, and we trekked a common journey together. Though my journey ended sooner than theirs, I still enjoyed the moments with them. </span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" line-height: 18px; font-family:Verdana, Helvetica, Arial;font-size:12px;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" line-height: 18px; font-family:Verdana, Helvetica, Arial;font-size:12px;">We seldom talk anymore. Life's present and future plans all too often stifle old friendships. Memories, however, continue to smolder. It is through these memories that I build my own World Series ring, and I'll carry this invisible ring with me until the day I die. </span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" line-height: 18px; font-family:Verdana, Helvetica, Arial;font-size:12px;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" line-height: 18px; font-family:Verdana, Helvetica, Arial;font-size:12px;"><a href="http://www.baseballamerica.com/today/prospects/prospect-diary/2010/2610888.html">http://www.baseballamerica.com/today/prospects/prospect-diary/2010/2610888.html</a></span></div></div>gbroshuishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04209222117346858634noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6877889513063391266.post-59414180835091116072010-07-09T13:01:00.003-05:002010-07-09T14:11:53.435-05:00Latinos and those things called steroidsI'm a little slow to comment on this, but there were a couple of articles that I wanted to pass along to you from the past week. The <a href="http://www.baseballamerica.com/today/prospects/international-affairs/2010/2610286.html">first</a> comes from <span style="font-style: italic;">Baseball America</span>, and it's about top Latino prospects testing positive for steroids just before the international signing period began.<span style="font-style: italic;"> </span>It's a story that should've gotten a LOT more attention but didn't.<br /><br />Here's an excerpt:<br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">MLB required 40 of the top Dominican prospects from this year's international signing class to register with the league last month, a process that included consenting to a drug test and to investigations into their ages and identities.</span><br /><br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;"> Baez said he recently met with the parents of about 20 players who reportedly tested positive for anabolic steroids, which is consistent with the word going around Dominican baseball circles: that nearly half of the 40 players who registered tested positive.</span><br /><br />(Read the rest <a href="http://www.baseballamerica.com/today/prospects/international-affairs/2010/2610286.html">here</a>.)<br /><br />I almost did a double take when I read this. HALF of the tests came back positive. Wow.<br /><br />This is very significant. The signing bonuses that top Dominican prospects are being paid has grown considerably in the past ten years, with <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Ynoa">Michael Ynoa</a> signing with Oakland $4.25 million in 2008. Several other top prospects now receive bonuses in the millions each year.<br /><br />This places them on par with first round draft picks in MLB's Rule 4 draft. They're certainly talented individuals, but they're very young, and very raw. And as this year's testing results show, some might be using steroids.<br /><br />Usage of PEDs of course would inflate their natural tools. It would mean that scouts evaluations of them would be tainted. A 16-year-old throwing 97 on steroids is very different from a 16-year-old throwing 97 without steroids.<br /><br />With teams paying the equivalent of first round money to these players, they need to make every assurance that their age is correct and that they are steroid free. Otherwise they're likely to see less return on their investment.<br /><br />And according to one minor leaguer (who was incensed), it's not fair to other players either. Having been given huge signing bonuses, these players automatically move above other players on teams' prospect list. They're given far more chances than players who receive less money. Perhaps these chances are not duly earned.<br /><br />One Latino friend told me that he doesn't suspect widespread usage of steroids by young prospects, but one has to wonder given this report. (See my previous post on buscones and drugs <a href="http://minorleaguelife.blogspot.com/2009/10/buscones-and-cocaine-what-hell-and-what.html">here</a>.)<br /><br />It's certainly alarming.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Minor Leaguers Testing Positive</span><br /><br />On a related note, <a href="http://www.stltoday.com/sports/baseball/article_811c8477-d9ec-5cac-b53a-d3f79c868781.html">five minor leaguers recently tested positive</a> for steroid use. All were suspended 50 games. All were Latino.<br /><br />This is very disappointing. The rate of steroid use has declined sharply in baseball--especially in the minor leagues where <a href="http://mlb.mlb.com/mlb/news/drug_policy.jsp?content=timeline">testing has been in place since 2001</a>. In my six years of playing, I in fact knew of very few players using PEDs. (See my previous <a href="http://www.sportingnews.com/mlb/article/2007-09-20/i-dont-know-any-player-using-hgh">Sporting News post on HGH here</a>.) Not a large percentage of minor leaguers are testing positive, but it seems too high of a percentage are Latino. (Read this excellent article on <a href="http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/news?slug=jp-latinosteroids092508">steroids and Latino <span style="font-style: italic;">peloteros</span></a>.)<br /><br />In talking to Latinos, it seems sometimes they're just getting bad information. An uncle or friend they trust will tell them they can take such and such product and not test positive. And it seems steroids are very easy to get in most of their home countries.<br /><br />I'm not sure there's an easy solution to this problem. Testing involves numerous countries, and it involves kids of a very young age. But it is a problem, and steps need to be taken. Perhaps increased testing combined with greater education would help. Maybe a more informed body of players--combined with a fear of testing positive--would reduce the usage.<br /><br />Hopefully rates will go down, but in the near future expect more positive tests from Latino ballplayers.<br /><br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Note: I'm not just picking on Latino ballplayers. There are obviously still Americans using as well, though perhaps not in as high of a percentage. In certain levels of baseball in the U.S., such as at the junior college level, more testing is still needed. We need to keep cleaning this game up.</span>gbroshuishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04209222117346858634noreply@blogger.com33tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6877889513063391266.post-89839290135562524562010-06-30T13:36:00.006-05:002010-07-02T16:57:31.648-05:00Trading Advisory: Time to make the draft more interestingThings that can be traded/swapped:<br /><br />Baseball Cards<br />Rare Coins<br />Candy (think Halloween when you got all that candy corn that you hated and had to trade it to the weird kid that loved it)<br />Spit (sorry, I had to)<br />Favors<br />Animal Furs<br />Carbon Allotments<br />Sea Shells<br />Wives (see "Wife Swap")<br />Jewelry<br />Humans<br />Almost anything else in this world<br /><br />Things that can't be traded:<br /><br /><div>MLB Rule 4 Draft Picks<br /><br /><br />The reason usually given for this is that the draft is built to enable the weakest teams to rebuild. Give weak teams top picks, and they'll reload with top talent.<br /><br />Yet in past drafts signability issues inhibited some teams from acquiring the best available talent at their slotted pick (see Ricky Porcello, J.D. Drew, Buster Posey, etc, etc. etc.). Cash-strapped teams instead picked slightly less talented kids deemed more signable.<br /><br />Instead of harming low budget teams, the ability to trade picks might actually benefit them. They could trade down slightly, still get the caliber of player they would've otherwise have drafted, and also receive some sort of compensation in return.<br /><br />For example, let's say Pittsburgh has the first pick in the 2011 draft, and suddenly Superman decides to play baseball. Yet Superman is demanding a $30 million signing bonus--otherwise he'll just continue to wear his ugly, too-snug blue suit, and continue to hit criminals instead of homeruns. Well, Pittsburgh can't afford this bonus. In the current system, they might simply skip Superman and instead take Johnny HS Shortstop, who will sign for 1/10th of Superman's asking price. Superman will fall in the draft to a team that can afford his asking price.<br /><br />With the ability to trade picks, Superman will still fall to a team that has more money. But in order to obtain him, they will have to trade up in the draft. Pittsburgh will be able to negotiate with other teams and take the best offer. They might still end up with Johnny HS Shortstop, but they'll also be compensated one or more already established prospects.<br /><br />This is a more free-market system, and so some will fear its usage. It allows for less control, but I believe it would work very well. <div><br /></div><div>The trading of picks would also make the draft much more interesting, and the draft needs a serious shot of RedBull right now (as does Bud Selig). More options and more possibilities equates with more speculation. The draft becomes a chess match, and drama ensues.<br /><br />There's been some talk of doing this very thing. (<a href="http://www.sportsagentblog.com/2010/06/30/a-step-closer-to-the-trading-of-mlb-draft-picks/"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#000000;">Darren Heitner's piece</span></a>, and <a href="http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2010/06/mlbpa-will-consider-trading-draft-picks.html?utm_source=twitterfeed&amp;utm_medium=twitter"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#000000;">comments from Michael Weiner of the MLBPA</span></a>.) In fact it will probably be discussed in the negotiations for the next CBA, along with another suggestion: a strict slotting system. </div><div><br /></div><div>I understand the merits of a slotting system, and in the past I have <a href="http://minorleaguelife.blogspot.com/2009/10/future-slot-system-where-does-money-go.html">brought up the idea</a> of using it, but only if the savings were then distributed to minor league players. Any money taken away from draftees should be shifted to the pockets of <a href="http://minorleaguelife.blogspot.com/2009/10/rock-band-manchester-orchestra.html">starving minor leaguers.</a> </div><div><br /></div><div>The likelihood of this re-distribution is low though. Instead, the savings would not be passed on to minor leaguers, but would instead go to the overall budget of teams. Minor leaguers would remain poor (see my Baseball America piece on minor league salaries <a href="http://www.baseballamerica.com/today/minors/season-preview/2010/269689.html">here.</a>)<br /><br />Lost in all of this is the fact that the MLBPA will be negotiating with owners on this and a host of other issues. Many decisions will have a direct influence on minor league players, and these players will have not a single sole representing their interests. Instead they'll just get swept to the side like Friday night garbage, gladly accepting the shillings that they're given, worrying not about collective bargaining agreements, but instead about curveballs and lifelong quests.</div><div><br /></div><div><br /><br /></div></div>gbroshuishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04209222117346858634noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6877889513063391266.post-16525106321490012132010-06-29T14:20:00.002-05:002010-06-29T14:24:42.659-05:00New Suitcase Chronicles entryExcerpt from my latest <a href="http://www.baseballamerica.com/today/prospects/prospect-diary/2010/2610241.html">"Suitcase Chronicles" article</a>, in which I reflect on the differences between college ball and pro ball: Hope you enjoy!<div><br /></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, Helvetica, Arial; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px; "><i>Emotion is often conditioned out of players in pro ball. Early in my career, I sprinted back to the dugout after my initial spring training pitching appearance. An older teammate started laughing.<br /><br />"Oh, you run back to the dugout. That's cool," he said with sarcasm, the official language of minor league baseball. <br /><br />"Yeah, it's called hustling," I replied.<br /><br />"Save the hustling for when it actually matters. That right there is just eye-wash."<br /><br />He then told me to watch some of the big leaguers pitch. <br /><br />"They're all business," he said. "The only place they run is to the bar after the game."<br /></i></span><div><br /></div><div>Hope you enjoy!</div><div><br /></div><div><a href="http://www.baseballamerica.com/today/prospects/prospect-diary/2010/2610241.html">http://www.baseballamerica.com/today/prospects/prospect-diary/2010/2610241.html</a></div><div><br /></div></div>gbroshuishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04209222117346858634noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6877889513063391266.post-11172822152009459972010-06-21T17:12:00.008-05:002010-06-22T14:44:05.534-05:00Baseball, Rainbows, and Pearl Jam<div>I usually don't like big arena concerts. Well, that's not completely true.<br /><div><br /></div>I'm not a big arena snob. I don't dislike them just because it's cool to dislike them. It's just that I usually prefer smaller venues. I'd rather see <a href="http://blindpilotmusic.wordpress.com/">Blind Pilot</a> with 20 other people than see an <a href="http://abcnews.go.com/Entertainment/story?id=108773&amp;page=1">Eagles reunion</a> with 20,000 other people. Maybe it's just that I'm socially claustrophobic. Or maybe I just like cheaper beer--not to mention cheaper admission tickets. Either way, I usually find the smaller concerts to resonate on a more personal level.<br /><div><br />As is the case with most generalizations, there are always exceptions. Recently in fact I went to a large venue concert that was not only outstanding, but also resonated as clear as a <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Perfect_fifth">perfect fifth</a>. </div><br /><div>The concert was <a href="http://pearljam.com/">Pearl Jam</a>. The venue: Scottrade Center in St. Louis. It ranks among the best shows I've ever seen.<br /></div><br /><div>One of my favorite teenage bands, the gods of flannel and grunge packed the house. They played almost all their greatest hits, but this was not the reason for their excellence that night. Eddie Vedder, their irreplaceable frontman, was the reason for my captivation.<br /></div><div> </div><br /><div>Vedder controlled an entire arena of souls that night. With each movement of his hand and each note of his voice, every limb of every body reacted. He was a true master of puppetry. </div><br /><div>One moment in particular stood out. He neared the edge of the stage as the night neared its inevitable end. With a bottle of wine in one hand, he took a seat upon a speaker. He placed the wine on the floor beside him and lit a cigarette. The guitars and drums continued to play behind him as he took a long draw from the cig. He exhaled slowly. With the smoke swirling around him, he took a look around the entire stadium. His long hair became curtains as he glanced onward. He smiled. And continued to smile as the music played on. Another drag on the cigarette. Another look around, now with his legs crossed. Another smile.<br /></div><div><br /></div>He was a man on top of the world. In that moment, he was free of everything. Completely satisfied, the worries of the world disappeared for a fleeting instant. All the killings in Darfur, all the oil in the gulf, all the dirt on the walls of one's personal existence. For a moment they all ceased.<br /><div><br /></div>I don't know if Vedder is a happy man. He might wake up every morning angry, with an insatiable desire to torture baby bunnies. But I know in that moment I was looking at a man in a state of contentment. It was a beautiful thing.<br /><div><br /></div>I once dreamt of gaining that feeling from baseball. For six years I rode the rainbow it offered. I fiercely clung to its slickness, yearning for the ultimate gratification that it might one day deliver. Yet I never reached the end of this rainbow. The ride was as brief as a ride at an amusement park.<br /><br /><div>But there are other rainbows to be found. I'll spot one soon, and when I do, I'll start climbing again. </div><br /><div></div></div>gbroshuishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04209222117346858634noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6877889513063391266.post-7347449476684781272010-06-10T12:51:00.005-05:002010-06-11T11:07:57.284-05:00Review of "A Player to Be Named Later"I guess I miss the locker room a little bit. Perhaps that's the reason I recently decided to view "<a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0450366/">A Player to Be Named Later.</a>" It's a documentary which profiles four minor league players over the 2001 season of the Indianapolis Indians, an affiliate of the Milwaukee Brewers.<br /><br />Honestly, I found it only mildly entertaining.<br /><br />Some might think I dislike the very genre of documentaries. In this world of 10 second soundbites, video games, and attention spans shorter than a subway stop, a lot of people have dismissed documentaries as dead as the AM radio.<div><br /></div><div>Others might simply think that since I've seen the sausage being made, I don't find the making of it interesting.<br /><br />But this is not the case. I tend to like documentaries--usually the rougher the better. If I'm watching a documentary on open heart surgery, for instance, I want to see some blood flying around. I don't want to just see someone talking about severing and sewing an aorta, I want to see it. I want the rawness that documentaries sometimes provide, and which Hollywood never provides. </div><div><br /></div><div>So despite its tendency to lead to open heart surgery, the making of sausage is usually interesting.<br /><br />"A Player to Be Named Later" does show some of baseball's inner workings (sausage making), but in focusing on Triple-A, the viewer finds mostly older guys whose careers are nearing an end. The youthful optimism--not to mention youthful energy--is gone for them. The result is a film starved action. It also has less drama than it should.<br /><br />The movie does have its moments. My favorite character is <a href="http://www.thebaseballcube.com/players/T/Brad-Tyler.shtml">Brad Tyler</a>. He's an aging veteran of 32 years who has spent 11 seasons in the minors. He knows his career is nearing an end. Yet he still wishes to play. He's no longer a starry-eyed 22 year old bouncing around in the Midwest League, but in his mind and heart he believes he can still play, despite hitting only .248 the previous season. Baseball has been all he has known for his adult life. How can he turn his back on it now?<br /><br />Tyler has a family though. They follow him around wherever he goes. He's quickly released by Indianapolis early in the season. He goes to Mexico for a couple of months. The family follows and together they live in a little shack. He is picked up by Cincinnati and is sent to Louisville. His family follows. At the end of the season he's even shipped to Double-A Chattanooga. This time it seems his family stays behind in Louisville.<br /><br />It sounds like all this moving around and familial stress would make for a great story, and I believe it could've been. It's just that once Tyler is released by Indianapolis he's almost treated as a supporting character. We don't see enough of him. We're instead given snapshots of his year, such as when he misses his daughter's birthday because he was sent to Louisville. The storyline is never completely developed.<br /><br />This is one of the weaknesses of the film as a whole. It focuses on four players, but I'm rarely drawn to any of them. Marco Scutaro makes for an interesting story, but I don't see enough of him either. We're just given bits and pieces of each player, and the result is a fractious picture.<br /><br />The chosen men are well-spoken, but they aren't talkative enough. Many ballplayers are somewhat guarded when it comes to the media, and this proves true in this documentary. In order to make these things work, you need some people with personality. From the very beginning, all four of these men seem a little too tame.</div><div><br /></div><div>As usual, the wives are slightly better. They're more open to discussing their feelings and the inner-working of the family. They even talk of allowing their husbands to "chase a dream," as if its a requirement in their life. Everything else should be put on hold.<br /><br />The film does give the viewer inside access, which is no doubt a joy to many. Discussions with Brewers' personnel are given, providing the viewer a look at how ballplayers are seen and evaluated by clubs.<br /><br />Since it has this inside access though, a tremendous amount of editing has no doubt been done. As part of the agreement to provide access, I would assume the Brewers reserved the right to edit (I know I would if I were the GM). The result is that yes, inside access is offered, but there's no conflict. Somehow we only hear one or two F-bombs in the entire movie. And we never see a disagreement between players or the coaching staff.<br /><br />We're watching men with testosterone for Zeus' sake. Even in Triple-A there should be some conflict.<br /><br />I've been saying for years that the real drama and action happens in A ball. Here the guys are younger. Far fewer have families, and so they carouse at the bars much more often. They pick up girls and get hammered. They bring girls back to their hotels. They have poker tournaments all night. They yell at each other more often. They have pre-game antics in the clubhouse. They do crazy stuff in the showers. They erupt after bad games. They interact with host families.<br /><br />They're still growing up.<br /><br />If someone could somehow capture that, then they would have something. </div><div><br /></div><div>But that type of access would be hard to get. That's most likely the stuff for a work of fiction (see my review of <a href="http://minorleaguelife.blogspot.com/2010/04/review-of-sugar-finally.html">"Sugar"</a>.<br /><br />"A Player to Be Named Later" is a film to be seen by hardcore baseball fans. These fans will most likely find it somewhat satisfying, but in the end it will simply leave them yearning for more.<br /></div>gbroshuishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04209222117346858634noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6877889513063391266.post-32864408323019084252010-06-01T13:52:00.010-05:002010-06-01T16:57:24.249-05:00Q&A: War, Korea, and Sadowski<div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"></span></div><span><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">Hope everyone's Memorial Day went well. Since a large number of our veterans served in the Korean War between 1950 and 1953, I thought this would be a good time to mix War, Korea, and Ryan Sadowski (Yes, Giants' fans, he's still alive). He's my best bud after all, and he's in Korea. And I've hardly mentioned him in months.<br /><br /></span></span></span><div><span><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">Sadowski's currently playing for the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lotte_Giants">Lotte Giants</a> in South Korea after briefly playing for the San Francisco Giants last season (no escape from the Gigantes). He has a very keen eye for things, and so I wanted to get his perspective not only on Korean baseball, but also on the <a href="http://www.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/asiapcf/05/29/north.korea.warship/index.html">ongoing crisis</a> between North Korea and South Korea, specifically as it relates to baseball players.<br /><br />Here goes:<br /><br /></span></span></span></div><div><span><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">GB: What has been the hardest thing about playing in another country, specifically about playing in S. Korea?<br /><br /></span></span></span></div><div><span><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"><b>RS: The most difficult part of being a foreign player in the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Korea_Baseball_Organization">KBO</a> are the expectations that are set before you arrive. I had a sub-par start in my first month and was battling some elbow discomfort and people were ready to send me home. After some rest (I skipped 1 start) and 5 consecutive quality starts, everybody loves me...for now.</b><br /><br />GB: Has the level of baseball been what you expected?<br /><br /></span></span></span></div><div><span><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"><b>RS: I really didn't know what to expect. I have heard people say that this compared to AA baseball and others say that it compares to AAAA baseball (above Triple A/below MLB). Players do things that would be considered Bush League back home on a regular basis. They watch home-runs constantly and fist pump after strikeouts in blowouts. They lean into pitches and draw lines for umpires, but all of that is okay here.<br /><br /></b></span></span></span></div><div><span><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"><b>The top level of players are major league players. It explains their <a href="http://beijing2008.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/08/23/live-soon-baseball-final-cuba-south-korea/">success in the olympics</a> and <a href="http://www.worldbaseballclassic.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20090323&amp;content_id=4056138&amp;team=jpn">WBC</a>. Other younger players would be considered top prospects in the minor leauges. LHP <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ryu_Hyun-Jin">Ryu Hyun Jin</a> stands out, and would probably be a major league superstar. He won the gold medal game against Cuba as a 22 year old. He's 24 now and is impressive to watch. He struck out 17 in a game earlier this year.<br /><br /></b></span></span></span></div><div><span><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"><b>I guess the only way we will know is if the Milb creates a AAAA league and sends them to Korea.<br /></b><br /><br /><br />GB: Moving to the ongoing event between the two Koreas. Do players discuss these sorts of things in the clubhouse? In the States, political events aren't really discussed by players too much. Try turning from MTV to CNN and you'll get food thrown at you. But this isn't just a political event. This involves, as you once told me, people of the same blood living across an arbitrary line. I'm sure there are some mixed emotions?<br /><br /><b>RS: I guess I have the mentality of a Korean. I really don't like to think about it. Americans are much more confrontational than Koreans are. Before <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Korea_under_Japanese_rule">Japan attacked Korea</a> in the early 1900's, Korea had been a peaceful nation for over 500 years. It's tough to find a time in American history where there were 50 years without war. Actually, it may not exist. Nobody here wants to see war. I think everybody on the team is well aware of the situation, but they don't want to think about it. Today, there was an unexpected fireworks show after the game. My pants are going to need some extra bleach.<br /></b><br /><br />GB: In Korea I've read that all males are subject to <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Republic_of_Korea_Armed_Forces">conscription laws</a>. Have many of your teammates served in the military? Are some of them approaching the time constraints before which they must serve?<br /><b><br /></b></span></span></span></div><div><span><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"><b>RS: Most of the older players have served in the military. I have talked to a few of them about their service. Most went through basic training and had standard military jobs. My Korean is limited, but I have talked to one player about his time in the military and he was a driver of large trucks.<br /><br /></b></span></span></span></div><div><span><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"><b>There are 2 standout players that still need to serve in the military. Our starting shortstop who has the defensive ability to be a starting shortstop on any major league team will have to serve after this season. One of out starting LHP's is 23. He throws 87-91 with a devestating slider. He would be a AAA prospect in a good organization or may be in the big leagues with a team that is developing talent at the ML level.<br /><br /></b></span></span></span></div><div><span><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"><b>Nobody in Korea is exempt from serving in the military. If a player wins a gold medal at the Asian games or any medal at the Olympics, he can avoid full time military service. That person must go through basic training in the off-season and serves in something similar to the reserves in the US.<br /><br /></b></span></span></span></div><div><span><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"><b>After somebody has done their 2 full years of military service, they are a member of the group that is similar to the reserves for the next 7 years. If war were to start, I think many of my teamates would be called into action.</b><br /><br /><br />GB: Has anything changed on the streets as this has unfolded? I assume people are still living their lives as usual? Has attendance suffered?<br /><br /></span></span></span></div><div><span><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"><b>RS: The threat of fighting has existed in Korea for the past 57 years. I think people have learned to live with it. Nothing has changed since I have been here. I'm sure people are a bit more aware of the situation at hand, but they still show up to our games ready to go nuts. The fans in Korea think a baseball game is an event similar to American Football or Soccer in South America or Europe.</b><br /><br />Thanks to Ryan for that. Hopefully cooler heads will prevail, and one of my best friends will arrive home safely in a couple of months.<br /><br /></span></span></span></div><div><span><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">If you'd like to learn more about Sadowski's experiences in the KBO be sure to check out his video blog on YouTube. He post it every single day under the name <a href="http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=incugator&amp;aq=f">"Incugator."</a> There's some good stuff there.<br /><br /><br /></span> </span></span><br /><div> </div></div>gbroshuishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04209222117346858634noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6877889513063391266.post-88381391392063458162010-05-24T20:56:00.003-05:002010-05-24T21:15:28.002-05:00Links/Excerpts<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">A couple things:</span></span><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">1. <a href="http://www.baseballamerica.com/today/prospects/prospect-diary/2010/269951.html">"Now an Outsider"</a></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman', serif;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">First is an excerpt from my latest <a href="http://www.baseballamerica.com/today/prospects/prospect-diary/2010/269951.html">"Suitcase Chronicles"</a> entry, entitled "Now an Outsider:"</span></span></div><div><br /></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" line-height: 18px; font-size:12px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;">The game halts not for the retirement of greats, and definitely gives no pause to the passing of a minor league blip. Each generation it gobbles new bodies, this spinning black hole. My baseball life is mere debris, cast aside as waste, scattered in the same bin as a thousand others. </span></b></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" line-height: 18px;font-size:medium;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><br /></span></b></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" line-height: 18px; font-size:12px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;">But I don't miss spinning within the black hole's grasp. </span></b></span></span></div><div><br /></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Read the rest here:</span></span></div><div><a href="http://www.baseballamerica.com/today/prospects/prospect-diary/2010/269951.html">http://www.baseballamerica.com/today/prospects/prospect-diary/2010/269951.html</a></div><div><br /></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';">2. <a href="http://www.baseballprospectus.com/article.php?articleid=10701">"The Language of Baseball"</a></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman', serif;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';">Next is an interview with David Laurila of <a href="http://www.baseballprospectus.com/">Baseball Prospectus</a> in his "Minor Issues" column, in which I talk about the language of baseball:</span></span></div><div><br /></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 15px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;">But aside from curse words, other words infiltrate as well. In fact, certain Spanish words become part of everyone's lingo, since Latinos are such a large part of the game. A change-up becomes a "cambio," a line drive a "linea," and a glove a "guante." And then, of course, their are the Spanish curse words, which everyone quickly mixes in--mierda, cono, mama...you get the point.</span></b></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:Arial, Helvetica;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" line-height: 15px;font-size:medium;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:Arial, Helvetica;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" line-height: 15px;font-size:medium;">The rest:</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:Arial, Helvetica;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" line-height: 15px;font-size:medium;"><a href="http://www.baseballprospectus.com/article.php?articleid=10701">http://www.baseballprospectus.com/article.php?articleid=10701</a></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:Arial, Helvetica;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" line-height: 15px;font-size:medium;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 15px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">3. <a href="http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/article/magazine/MAG1169440/index.htm">"Sports Genes"</a></span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 15px;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 15px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">And finally, a random article about genes and sports. It's a really long read from David Epstein in </span></span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Sports Illustrated</span></span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">, but it was perhaps the best thing I read all week:</span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:Arial, Helvetica;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" line-height: 15px;font-size:medium;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:Arial, Helvetica;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" line-height: 15px;font-size:medium;"><a href="http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/article/magazine/MAG1169440/index.htm">http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/article/magazine/MAG1169440/index.htm</a></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:Arial, Helvetica;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" line-height: 15px;font-size:medium;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" line-height: 15px;font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';">I'll write more soon!! </span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" line-height: 15px;font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" line-height: 15px;font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';">I might even write about baseball and Pearl Jam next. Not sure how those two topics will mix. Hmm...</span></span></div>gbroshuishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04209222117346858634noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6877889513063391266.post-20636698787848072382010-05-17T08:35:00.003-05:002010-05-17T11:02:16.709-05:00A Pragmatic Posey Post (Hopefully)I don't like evaluating my former teammates. Being friends, my evaluations are usually short of objective, and I feel they have enough people judging them. Is my short-sighted opinion really needed? <div><br /></div><div>Today I'm going to make an exception. With all the hoopla surrounding Buster Posey, and after <a href="http://blogs.mercurynews.com/extrabaggs/2010/05/09/postgame-notes-giants-say-buenos-ojos-to-uribe-sabean-on-buster-poseys-readiness-bochysabean-on-usefulness-of-minor-league-stats-romos-wild-ride-ends-etc/">Brian Sabean's ridiculous comments</a>, I thought I'd follow <a href="http://minorleaguelife.blogspot.com/2010/05/triple-and-sabean.html">my last post</a> with a couple of statements. So I'll try to brush away my knowledge of Posey as an affable, well-liked guy, and strictly look at his baseball skills. </div><div><br /></div><div><b>Statement #1</b></div><div><b><br /></b></div><div><b>Buster Posey <i>can </i>play in the big leagues--right now.</b></div><div><b><br /></b></div><div>Now, before you go too crazy, read on.</div><div><br /></div><div><b>Buster Posey <i>should not</i> be playing in the big leagues--at least not right now.</b></div><div><b><br /></b></div><div>On the surface, they're two completely contradictory statements, but they're more compatible than they seem. Let's take a look at the first. </div><div><br /></div><div>We all know Posey's bat is glowing like <a href="http://www.aceros-de-hispania.com/frodo-sword.htm">Frodo's Sting Sword</a> down in Triple-A. But since numbers such as .346 BA and .549 slugging don't matter (according to Sabean), we have to throw those numbers out. </div><div><br /></div><div>As I look at Posey's swing, I'm confident it will play in the big leagues. I don't think fans should expect Fresno-type of numbers there, as yes, the pitching is better in the big leagues and the two parks are DRAMATICALLY different. But you can expect a lot of doubles in the gaps and a more than respectable batting average from him during the first couple of years. </div><div><br /></div><div>As for his defense, his blocking is fine and his arm is very good. The release is quick, the strength is there, and the accuracy is solid. (Hopefully he avoids the <a href="http://espn.go.com/blog/dallas/texas-rangers/post/_/id/4847782/saltalamacchia-trying-to-overcome-the-yips">Saltalamacchia yips.</a>) He will do fine in the running game. </div><div><br /></div><div>His glove and the "ability to call the game" are the two traditional knocks on him. Having thrown to him, I can say that his hands are great. He's only been catching a couple of years, and so the experience with catching pitches with movement still needs to come, but the hands are there. They will continue to develop.</div><div><br /></div><div>I thought he called the game adequately. He's a smart guy, and there is a solid thought process to his game-calling. Of course, this improves with experience as well. Just don't expect him to be Bengie Molina upon arrival. </div><div><br /></div><div>So, all in all, I have no problem saying Posey can play in the big leagues right now. He may not be an All-Star catcher yet, but he could more than hold his own. </div><div><br /></div><div><b>Now, statement #2</b>.</div><div><br /></div><div>Just because he could hold his own doesn't mean that he should be in the big leagues right now. The main reason is because he's not really needed. Molina is hitting .330. Whiteside is hitting .324 as a backup. Both are very, very good defensive catchers. </div><div><br /></div><div>"So he could play first base," some people say. </div><div><br /></div><div>I don't like this idea at all. The production out of Posey's bat won't be as impressive as a first baseman. It will play much, much, much better as a catcher. </div><div><br /></div><div>His catching skills need to continue to develop. Yes, I thought his hands were wonderful and his game-calling was adequate, but <i>I'm not Tim Lincecum or Matt Cain</i>. Far from it. It's a lot easier to catch my crappy fastball than some of the best fastballs in the game. </div><div><br /></div><div>Some might say there's no better learning experience than actually doing it. You might as well just throw him in the big leagues and let him catch those guys. But again, there's no need for catching right now. The pragmatic move is to allow his glove to continue to develop in Triple-A, where, believe it or not, he's still catching some pretty darn good pitchers. </div><div><br /></div><div>So, yes, he can do it. But no, he shouldn't be doing it. </div><div><br /></div><div>Hopefully that makes sense. Go ahead and scream at me if you'd like. </div>gbroshuishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04209222117346858634noreply@blogger.com66tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6877889513063391266.post-75828551568034451152010-05-10T12:58:00.004-05:002010-05-10T16:29:56.998-05:00Triple-A and SabeanI'm going to begin this by saying that I don't really know Brian Sabean very well. For this reason, I can't tell you whether or not he has an IQ above 75, or whether or not he has a thing for 80s rock and margaritas. I'd just be making that stuff up.<br /><br />Sure I played in the minor leagues for 6 years in the Giants' organization, but I never had any contact with the general manager. Why would I? I was in the minor leagues. I was useless.<br /><br />Well, apparently all of the pitchers in the minor leagues are useless, as Sabean recently commented that pitching in Triple A isn't very good, and neither is baseball in general in Triple A. He did this while answering questions about the performance of Buster Posey.<br /><br />"Triple-A baseball isn't very good," <a href="http://blogs.mercurynews.com/extrabaggs/2010/05/09/postgame-notes-giants-say-buenos-ojos-to-uribe-sabean-on-buster-poseys-readiness-bochysabean-on-usefulness-of-minor-league-stats-romos-wild-ride-ends-etc/">Sabean told Andrew Baggarly of the San Jose Mercury News recently.</a><br /><br />"I'm going to tell you that right now," he continued. "Especially from a pitching standpoint. Anybody who can pitch is in the big leagues."<br /><br />Hmm. I guess Tim Lincecum was never <a href="http://www.thebaseballcube.com/players/l/tim-lincecum.shtml">in Triple-A</a>. I guess if he was ever there, he must have been awful. He clearly didn't know how to pitch, because he wasn't in the big leagues.<br /><br />And what about this <a href="http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20100504&amp;content_id=9784436&amp;vkey=news_mlb&amp;fext=.jsp&amp;c_id=mlb">Strasburg character</a> that everybody keeps talking about? He obviously is no good. He's not in the big leagues, he must not be able to pitch.<br /><br />If Sabean had said that Triple A pitching, as a whole, on average, is not as good as big league pitching, I would have no problem with that. That's why it's Triple-A baseball and not the big leagues. If he'd said that offensive numbers are inflated in the PCL since it is a hitter-friendly league--especially in the division that Fresno plays--I would have no problem with that. That's clearly true.<br /><br />But instead Sabean decided to say that Triple-A baseball is just not good period, and especially the pitchers. He managed to not only belittle the performance of Posey, but to belittle the performance of all his minor league pitchers and catchers. He did this all in a couple of sentences. It's not easy to make that many people feel like crap in so short of a time span, but Sabean managed to do it. That takes real talent.<br /><br />I sort of remember not long ago having a conversation with a couple of my buddies. Some of us had been in the big leagues; some of us hadn't (I clearly was in the ranks of those who hadn't). We were talking about the difference between Triple-A and the big leagues. It was the opinion of those who had played in the majors that the difference is magnified. Sure, there's a difference, but it's not a huge difference.<br /><br />Here's the thing. If you're pitching in the big leagues, you're probably among the top 400 pitchers in the world. That's pretty frickin' good. If you're pitching in Triple-A, you're probably among the top 1000 pitchers in the world. There are probably some better guys in Japan, and maybe in Korea. A few more might exist in Cuba. And then there are almost all of the MLB pitchers above you.<br /><br />I'd say being one of the top 1000 in the world is still pretty good. In fact, if you took any of those top 1000 and put them in the big leagues, they might even hold their own for awhile.<br /><br />Sabean could've said a number of things in defending his decision to keep Buster Posey in the minor leagues. He could've said Posey needed more time to hone his glove work. He could've said that he was happy with how both of his big league catchers were playing, as both are hitting well. Both of these things would've been believable, and they would've been benign statements.<br /><br />Instead he decided to trash every minor league player in the system. And I take exception to that. Many are friends and former teammates. Some are darn good pitchers. Some might have big league careers ahead of them.<br /><br />With so much of the Giants' pitching staff being self-grown--Cain, Sanchez, Lincecum, Wilson, and Romo among them--you'd think Sabean would know that sometimes there's some pretty good pitching down there. But I guess not.<br /><br />Again, I don't know the guy at all, so I can't vouch for his mental stability, and I can't tell you whether or not he has a proclivity for listening to Michael Buble. But I can tell you that this was not a smart statement.gbroshuishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04209222117346858634noreply@blogger.com70tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6877889513063391266.post-14351695525064755492010-05-07T15:07:00.003-05:002010-05-07T15:31:44.581-05:00A Friday Quickie: Receta de PolloSo I shared this on Twitter a few days ago, but I thought I'd share it again on here.<br /><br />Some of my favorite moments from minor league baseball are the result of going over to one of my teammate's apartments after a day game and hanging out. Sometimes I'd hang out with my Dominican buddies. Often they'd cook for me. I hoped it would make me throw harder, as they said <span style="font-style: italic;">arroz con pollo </span>was the key to velo. Obviously it never worked, and here I am today preparing for law school.<br /><br />Anyways, here's an easy recipe for grilled chicken from Osiris Matos:<br /><br />Easy Grilled Chicken the Dominican Way (Or <em>Coño</em> Chicken, as one of my teammates liked to call it):<br /><br />Ingredients:<br /><br />Chicken Breasts<br />Red Wine Vinegar<br />Adobo Seasoning with Pepper<br />Oregano<br /><br />Place Chicken Breasts in any container known to contain things. Pour a thin layer of red wine vinegar on them (not too much). Sprinkle both sides with Adobo and Oregano (both usually used generously). Cover and marinate for a couple of hours. Grill and enjoy!<br /><br />If you really want to feel like you're in Santo Domingo, try Matos' Platanos Fritos as well. They're as easy as catching a box turtle without a box.<br /><br />If using green Platanos, just peel them while some oil is heating in a pan on medium-high heat. Cut the plantains in quarter inch slices. Place in oil. Fry on each side for 1.37 minutes (exactly). Remove from heat and use any blunt object to smash them (hopefully clean). Once flattened, place them back in the oil for another minute or two on each side, or until slightly golden brown. Remove and sprinkle with a little salt (or a lot if you feel like having a heart attack and don't like the actual taste of food).<br /><br />I was told with yellow Platanos it's not necessary to use blunt objects, as they're soft enough you don't need to flatten them. They're also sweeter. I think smashing things is fun though. Very cathartic.<br /><br />Anyways, wash it down with a little cocktail made with Brugal, and you'll be speaking Spanish in no time, even if your velocity doesn't improve.gbroshuishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04209222117346858634noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6877889513063391266.post-69986305977818342442010-04-30T11:23:00.003-05:002010-04-30T12:03:29.580-05:00Non-profit for Minor LeaguersMost readers of this blog know by now that minor leaguers earn about as much as a <a href="http://www.victorianweb.org/economics/wages2.html">19th century seaman</a>. In fact, as I noted in a previous entry on fictional character <a href="http://minorleaguelife.blogspot.com/2010/04/food-stamps-and-baseball-tale-of.html">Mickey Cobb</a>, the majority of players earn a wage that places them below the established poverty guidelines.<br /><br />The situation is particularly cumbersome for families, on whom the minor league lifestyle grinds like a bone saw on a femur. Seeing this, and living this herself, one wife of a minor leaguer has formed a non-profit to assist struggling ballplayers.<br /><br />I first learned of <a href="http://www.fasfim.org/Site/Home_.html">Financial Aid Serving Families in Minors</a> a few months ago through a <a href="http://athletics.scout.com/2/851931.html">link</a> someone sent me. The <a href="http://athletics.scout.com/2/851931.html">original article</a> is informative--and well worth a read--but I also wanted to contact the founder of the organization, Laurel Sharpe for a little Q&amp;A. Her responses are below.<br /><br /><div>1) <span style="font-style: italic;">FASFIM is a tax exempt non-profit. How hard is it to gain 501(c)(3) status, and what exactly does that mean?</span><br /><br />I can only speak for FASFIM when you ask about the difficulty of gaining 501(c)(3) status. It was extremely challenging. The IRS did not understand why a professional athlete would need financial assistance and the verbage when applying for non-profit is very specific. I had found a lawyer from STL, who had a vested interest in sports, and was familiar with the IRS, to help evolve my language into what they are looking for. The reason for establishing the <span style="background: transparent none repeat scroll 0% 0%; cursor: pointer; -moz-background-clip: border; -moz-background-origin: padding; -moz-background-inline-policy: continuous;" class="yshortcuts" id="lw_1272644574_0">federal poverty line</span> as a guide (in-season), was because those are numbers are governmentally and a relative guideline to how they operate. It was actually kind of shocking, after doing some research, that MOST <span class="yshortcuts" id="lw_1272644574_1">minor league players</span> make under that guideline. <div><br /></div><div>501(c)(3) status means we are tax exempt, both in making purchases, paying taxes and those who choose to donate, do not pay taxes on the amount they choose to give. I could not have achieved this success for FASFIM without the help of NOLO business books; they guided me each step of the way.</div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div>2) <span style="font-style: italic;">I think people have difficulties empathizing with minor leaguers. Even though salaries may be low, they still see players as being in the privileged position of playing baseball for a living. Or they see the minors as the place where a person has to pay their dues. How do you overcome this challenge?<br /><br /></span>The mission of FASFIM is not to promote the difficulties of the minors, but rather to supplement and strengthen the family unit for a man pursuing his dream. As with any aspiration and <span class="yshortcuts" id="lw_1272644574_2">career goal</span>, we all start in the 'trenches', with hopes, by the grace of God, that our hard work pays off. Yes, it is more evidently challenging for a <span class="yshortcuts" id="lw_1272644574_3">player</span> who is somewhat romanticized by media and movies to bring to light the real truths of the challenges of playing <span class="yshortcuts" id="lw_1272644574_4">minor league baseball</span>, but it is a common theme in most 1st jobs. As stated before, FASFIM was not established to make it seem that playing MiLB is any harder than a 9-5 working mans job. FASFIM was established by a wife who lived and saw the need for more support for the FAMILY, and a man who is also trying to support a wife and child(ren). It is to promote family wholeness in a society that is losing sight of these values, in a sense, it is keeping an ancient dream alive!<br /></div><div><br /></div><div>3) <span style="font-style: italic;">I have a number of teammates in difficult positions, how do they apply for help? I didn't see a form on the website.<br /><br /></span>FASFIM began in a recession and is surviving the recession; funds and donations are low. I must admit it to a fault, I have tried to implement small little fundraisers here and there, but the money that has been raised, in the boards opinion, should be used as seed money to grow the organization and build our capacity, in order to better raise funds successfully and provide for families in the future. That being said, we have not officially awarded any money. FASFIM was established as a long term goal, something that 20 years down the road, we can be proud to have established and amazed by those it has helped. It is hard in today's world to not get hung up on the immediate gratification (quick money). We trust, with time and the grace of God, that FASFIM will reach it's full potential. So for those wanting to apply, I would encourage them to stay abreast of our newest developments and fundraising efforts, via the website and <span class="yshortcuts" id="lw_1272644574_5">Facebook</span>, until we have reached capacity to financially aid their family.<br /></div><div><br /></div><div>4) <span style="font-style: italic;">What are the federal poverty guidelines, and are most people surprised that ballplayers fall below the levels set?</span><br /><br />The federal poverty guidelines are listed annually on <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:100%;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:12px;"><b><a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="http://aspe.hhs.gov/poverty/09poverty.shtml"><span class="yshortcuts" id="lw_1272644574_6">http://aspe.hhs.gov/poverty/09poverty.shtml</span></a></b></span></span> (the government will release 2010 guidelines in May. FYI, in addition to the FPG for in-season play, the players must also qualify by meeting their off season's State's median income level. It is a consideration that takes all 12 months earnings into account.<br /><br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Thanks to Laurel not only for answering my questions, but, more importantly, for trying to make a difference. Whereas inaction sometimes becomes the norm in this world, she has taken steps to help others. I applaud her for this.<br /><br />If you'd like more information on FASFIM, including ways to donate, please go to their website at </span><a href="http://www.fasfim.org/Site/Home_.html">http://www.fasfim.org/Site/Home_.html</a><span style="font-style: italic;"> And feel free to pass the link around!<br /></span></div>gbroshuishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04209222117346858634noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6877889513063391266.post-85013698004243310932010-04-23T07:07:00.004-05:002010-04-24T10:23:24.106-05:00Review of "Sugar" (Finally)I had a teacher in high school that used to always respond to the cut-ups in class by asking them what the first rule of comedy was. They knew his ploy well, as he did it daily, but yet he forced them to play his game. When they attempted to say "timing," he cut them off mid-reply. He interrupted them every time. He loved it.<div><br /></div><div>The first rule of comedy may indeed be timing, but it's also the first rule of movie reviews. Therefore, I know this review of <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0990413/">"Sugar"</a> is about as well-timed as Israel's announcement of <a href="http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2010/03/14/eveningnews/main6298669.shtml">new settlements in East Jerusalem</a> a month ago. So why write about it? </div><div><br /></div><div>The movie, recommended to me by dozens over the past year, is a wonderful glimpse into the world of the Dominican baseball immigrant. This is a large part of the minor league saga, and its intricacies have too often been ignored. I should've watched the movie--and written about it--long ago. Better late then never. </div><div><br /></div><div>Sugar, the name of the main character, is a teenager from the Dominican who gains the opportunity to play in the States for the first time. Not only his family but his entire neighborhood brims with pride for him. </div><div><br /></div><div>This is one of the interesting aspects of the movie. For many Latino peloteros, simply making it to the U.S. is a huge achievement. This country is seen as a type of dream world to them. New cars, fancy malls, huge houses, and gigantic stadiums pervade their thoughts. </div><div><br /></div><div>Many ballplayers have never travelled outside of the Dominican before their arrival here. Some have hardly removed themselves from their own neighborhoods. The States might as well be on another planet for them. Being given a lump sum of money and told that you are getting on a plane and arriving to this fancy dream world, with your whole neighborhood bursting with pride, must be an amazing feeling. </div><div><br /></div><div>Sugar leaves the Dominican and arrives to the U.S. early in the movie (probably a little too quickly to be realistic). We see him and his other fellow new-to-the-States friends in a hotel room. They open up the little hotel refrigerator and find beer in it. They all agree that they have indeed reached the big time, and immediately start drinking the beer and watching hotel porn on the TV. A minor league veteran comes in and has to educate them, telling them they have to pay for all of this.</div><div><br /></div><div>The minor league veteran is a crucial piece of this story. He's played in the States presumably for a couple of years and knows the long road ahead for these young men. He also knows their innocent excitement. </div><div><br /></div><div>One of my best Latino friends, <a href="http://mlb.mlb.com/team/player.jsp?player_id=467683">Osiris Matos,</a> told me a story about his first day in Arizona. (An important part of this story involves Matos' first name, which is phonetically pronounced O-Serious.) The Giants' minor league hotel is a crappy old Days Inn, but it lies directly beside the Fashion Square Mall in Scottsdale, which is one of the nicest malls I've ever been in. One of the favorite pastimes of minor leaguers is to go to the mall, grab a bite to eat, and then sit for hours beside the main escalators in the building. It offers a great view of all the beautiful women shopping. </div><div><br /></div><div>As soon as Osiris arrived, he and his newfound friends went to the mall to do just this. They got some Chinese food from Panda Express, and then began yelling at girls as they came off the escalator. Most ignored them. Being good hunting dogs though, they persevered. Finally--Success!--girls came their way. </div><div><br /></div><div>One of the players knew just a bit more English than the others. He tried talking to the girls, and cut straight to the most important information:</div><div><br /></div><div>"We baseball players."</div><div><br /></div><div>Apparently somehow this little incomplete, grammatically atrocious sentence impressed our young ladies. They reacted as so:</div><div><br /></div><div>"Are you serious!!!"</div><div><br /></div><div>At this time, young Osiris Matos, stood up:</div><div><br /></div><div>"Yes! You know me!!!"</div><div><br /></div><div>Matos, thinking they said his name when they asked "are you serious" because it sounded like his name, thought that he was a big enough prospect that these random girls already knew who he was. Indeed, he thought he had arrived. </div><div><br /></div><div>Every Dominican no doubt has a similar feeling upon arrival to the States. They feel on top of the world. It is usually short-lived. In our movie, Sugar quickly finds out how far he has to go. There are more talented players than he's ever seen in spring training camp.</div><div><br /></div><div>Out of camp, Sugar is assigned to a small Midwestern town. This assignment is one of the real inaccuracies of the movie. The movie accelerates Sugar's career WAY too quickly. I can't think of a single Dominican I ever knew who went from being signed, then to spring training, then to an assignment to a full-season team within a month. Almost always, the newly signed players spend some time in the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dominican_Summer_League">Dominican Summer League.</a> If they do come to the U.S. immediately, the will spend at least a summer, maybe two or even three, at the spring training complex for extended spring training. It allows them time to assimilate to the culture, learn a little English, and learn a little more baseball. All of this comes in a friendlier environment devoid of many fans. It's also full of more Latinos. For the purposes of the film though, all of this was skipped.</div><div><br /></div><div>Sugar arrives to the small town and shacks up with a host family. Their old country house is surrounded by corn fields, which contrast greatly with earlier scenes from the Dominican. He looks out his window with heartache. He's never comfortable in this house. </div><div><br /></div><div>If awards were given out to the nicest people in the world, most host families would be nominated. But indeed, some players never really feel comfortable there. They don't like opening the refrigerator whenever they like. They don't always like sitting down at the dinner table with them. They don't like talking with them after every game. </div><div><br /></div><div>This is not a general rule for all players, but it is true for some. Some people keep to themselves more and don't easily adjust to living in new situations. In living with a host family, they feel they have invaded another's life. They feel they must conform to this life, and therefore can't live their own normalcy. This is true even of some American players, and it must be even more true of Latinos. </div><div><br /></div><div>This plays out in the movie beautifully with Sugar. The scenes at the dinner table are priceless. His host family attempts to speak Spanish to him, and it sounds ridiculous. It makes Sugar feel stupid, as it seems they are talking down to him. He'd no doubt rather they speak slowly in English. </div><div><br /></div><div>Sugar's interactions with his teammates are also wonderful. He sort of forms a bond with one of his American infielders, understanding some of what he says, but not all of it. He doesn't quite feel right throughout, as is evidenced by his attempt to hang out with the guys at a bowling alley. (I've actually done this with a couple of Latinos. Matos, <a href="http://orioles.mlb.com/team/player.jsp?player_id=464351">Kelvin Pichardo,</a> and others used to occasionally join a group of American players for Sunday night bowling. They didn't feel comfortable in the place--surrounded by whites and playing a strange game--but with a little encouragement from myself and a few other guys (and after a few drinks), they began throwing gutterballs with the best of us.) Sugar enters the bowling alley and sees his teammates laughing and carousing from a distance. Yet he can't bring himself to join them. He leaves before even talking to them.</div><div><br /></div><div>In showing human interactions such as these, the movie excells. The downfall comes from the path of his career. Sugar has a seemingly minor injury and his team has little patience with him. Within a short time he leaves baseball altogether. His entire career last for a couple of months. </div><div><br /></div><div>Yes, the window of opportunity is short in this game, but this is ridiculous. The kid gave it a mere couple of months. He was earning a paycheck and sending money back to his impoverished family in the Dominican. Despite his troubles, I can't fathom him leaving the game in such a manner. </div><div><br /></div><div>Sugar then goes to New York and attempts to find work. His mother doesn't understand his actions. Eventually he finds other Latinos and gains a sense of home. He even finds other former baseball players and joins a pickup game.</div><div><br /></div><div>In all, the movie is an important addition to the baseball genre. Both an immigrant's tale and a baseball tale, the beautifully done human interactions more than make up for the gross inaccuracies in the timeline of his career. If you haven't seen it, it's a must-see movie for all baseball fans.</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div>gbroshuishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04209222117346858634noreply@blogger.com13tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6877889513063391266.post-92089505721500336142010-04-11T12:57:00.002-05:002010-04-11T13:23:29.929-05:00Primavera and some linksA few lyrics from one of my favorite Santana songs, "Primavera" (Spring), which I've been listening to a lot lately:<div><br /></div><div>Como la semilla</div><div>Lleva nueva vida</div><div>Hay en esta primavera una nueva era</div><div><br /></div><div>En el aire de este universo</div><div>Hoy se respira libertad</div><div>En primavera ya</div><div><br /></div><div>La tierra negra se vuelve verde</div><div>Y las montanas y el desierto</div><div>Un bello jardin</div><div><br /></div><div>Como la semilla</div><div>Lleva nueva vida</div><div>Hay en esta primavera una nueva era</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div>Beautiful in Spanish. It's worth the translation.</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div>And here are a few links:</div><div><br /></div><div>David Laurila with <i>Baseball Prospectus </i>has a great ongoing series called "Minor Issues." I had the wonderful opportunity to answer a couple of questions for him:</div><div><a href="http://bbp.cx/article.php?type=2&amp;articleid=10191">http://bbp.cx/article.php?type=2&amp;articleid=10191</a></div><div><br /></div><div>And here's a recent fun one about from Laurila about Derrick Loop entering his team's circle of trust:</div><div><a href="http://www.baseballprospectus.com/article.php?articleid=10469">http://www.baseballprospectus.com/article.php?articleid=10469</a></div><div><br /></div><div>From recent to old, here's something from Lisa Winston, written years back, that was passed along to me:</div><div><a href="http://gotmilb.mlblogs.com/archives/2008/12/offseason_greetings.html">http://gotmilb.mlblogs.com/archives/2008/12/offseason_greetings.html</a></div><div><br /></div><div>Lastly, not sure what to think about <i>USA Today </i>reporting a significant decrease in MLB opening day salaries and MLBPA responding with their own calculations showing a slight increase. Don't really think that accomplished anything. What's more interesting is that MLBPA seems to be gearing up for a collusion case. In my opinion, the owners definitely colluded this offseason, using the economy as an excuse to collectively make less attractive offers to free agents. But proving it is another thing. Here are some links:</div><div><br /></div><div><a href="http://content.usatoday.com/communities/dailypitch/post/2010/04/sliding-mlb-average-salary-down-17-from-2009/1?csp=34sports&amp;utm_source=feedburner&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;utm_campaign=Feed%3A+UsatodaycomSports-TopStories+(Sports+-+Top+Stories)">http://content.usatoday.com/communities/dailypitch/post/2010/04/sliding-mlb-average-salary-down-17-from-2009/1?csp=34sports&amp;utm_source=feedburner&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;utm_campaign=Feed%3A+UsatodaycomSports-TopStories+(Sports+-+Top+Stories)</a></div><div><br /></div><div><a href="http://mlb.fanhouse.com/2010/04/07/baseball-players-union-threatens-collusion-suit/">http://mlb.fanhouse.com/2010/04/07/baseball-players-union-threatens-collusion-suit/</a></div><div><br /></div><div>Enjoy the spring! It's beautiful in St. Louis!</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div>gbroshuishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04209222117346858634noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6877889513063391266.post-7090800778490494812010-04-02T11:02:00.001-05:002010-04-02T11:18:41.198-05:00Food Stamps and Baseball: the tale of imaginary friend Mickey Cobb<div>As I stated in my previous post, the <a href="http://www.baseballamerica.com/today/minors/season-preview/2010/269689.html"><i>Baseball America </i>article</a> on minor league salaries was finally published. Yes, I know, it had become some mythical balloon floating around in the troposphere by now. Unlike the balloon boy fiasco, hopefully it contained more than just hot air.<br /><br />I bored you with some stats in my previous post. Basically salaries have been grounded like a dead hawk the past 35 years, while inflation has been building faster than 1990s suburbia. Meanwhile, baseball profits are at an all time high, and <a href="http://minorleaguelife.blogspot.com/2010/03/more-on-playing-for-pennies.html">MLB salaries have risen by 7000%</a>.<br /><br />But enough of that. Today we're going to tell a little bedtime story. It's a little fictional account about food stamps and poverty, enlisting the help of an imaginary friend. (Because it's better to embarrass an imaginary friend than a real friend.)<br /><br /></div><div> </div><div>My imaginary friend is a minor league baseball player (shocker). Since my friend needs a name, we'll call him Mickey Cobb. Mickey hails from a land as open and free as a <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Galilean_moons">Galilean moon</a>: Oklahoma. The name of his town? Cottonmouth. Always a natural athlete, Mickey was popular in high school but never won any contests such as Prom King. In fact, he elected to not even go to prom--he hates the choking confines of a tux. (Not to mention the terrible feeling of posing for pictures.) Instead, he sat around a bonfire with a couple of his baseball buddies, watching Bill E. Bobb crush empty cans of Keystone off his forehead. Later, others joined the circle of post-prom reminiscing, including the Prom Queen, who quickly huddled next to Mickey close to the fire (as far away from Bill E. as possible).<br /><br /></div><div> </div><div>Mickey attended a local junior college where he developed as a player and continued to date Prom Queen. He then attended Some Southern University in Western Oklahoma--a well-known baseball powerhouse. His junior year, Mick had high hopes of getting drafted, but the scrimmage prior to the start of the season a hamstring was strained, which hampered (couldn't help myself) him the entire season. Both his power numbers and his ability to play the outfield diminished. Draft day passed without his name being called.<br /><br /></div><div> </div><div>With the coming of his senior year, Mickey worked harder than ever. He knew it was his last chance to make his dream a reality. The hard work paid off. Mickey became an All-Conference player, and in early June the moment finally came. He heard his name called in the 12th round of the draft.<br /><br /></div><div> </div><div>As a senior signee, Mickey had no leverage. He quickly took the first offer given him by the BlueBuzzards, and signed a uniform contract with a $5,000 signing bonus. He immediately took the bulk of the bonus to the local Cottonmouth jewelry store, where he bought a diamond solitaire engagement ring for Prom Queen. All of Cottonmouth, Oklahoma rejoiced.</div><div> </div><div>Mickey has now played a year and a half in professional baseball. He enters his second spring training after making the Sally League All-Star team the previous year, posting a .297 average with 16 homeruns. Though he's not considered a top prospect yet, the eyes and spitcups of the organization are upon him. He hopes with another All-Star caliber season he will move into the upper ranks of the system.<br /><br />Last season Mickey made just over $6000 for the year. He went to instructional leagues for all of October and also attended a two week workout camp in December. Additionally, he was invited to a mini-camp beginning two weeks prior to spring training in the middle of February. He earned no money for his time spent at instructional leagues or at spring training. All of these things--combined with a tough local economy--made it <a href="http://www.baseballamerica.com/today/minors/business-beat/2009/267464.html">impossible for him to find work</a> during the couple of months spent in Cottonmouth. His baseball salary was his only source of income.<br /><br />Prom Queen worked odd jobs--20 hours a week at a golf course during one summer month, part-time at a restaurant 2 winter months--but she too found it hard to find work while living as a gypsy. In all, she earned $3,000 herself. Combined they earned $9000 last season.<br /><br />Their bank account is as empty as an Easter tomb. Even though they're now married, they again lived with their parents in the offseason. This season, they're living with three other players, all crammed into a two-bedroom apartment, yet they still pay almost $400 per month for rent.<br /><br />More and more, Mick and Prom Queen are finding it difficult to pay for groceries. Finally they make a tough decision. They inquire to see if they are eligible for food stamps.<br /><br />They open up Mick's old laptop--a Christmas present from his freshman year in college that is as slow as a sailboat on a windless day. After a few minutes, the power of Google directs them to a website that gives an instant estimate. Prom Queen types some information into the calculator. <a href="http://www.snap-step1.usda.gov/fns/">FNS SNAP eligibility screening</a> proclaims they are eligible for between $357 and $367 per month in food stamps.<br /><br />They also look into other benefits. They find that they are well below the <a href="http://www.cms.hhs.gov/MedicaidEligibility/Downloads/POV10Combo.pdf">established poverty guidelines</a> which qualify them for a myriad of things. In fact, they are more than $5000 below the threshold of $14,700 set by the government for a family of two.<br /><br />Mick and Prom Queen quietly go about the process of applying for these benefits. They are embarrassed about their situation, but they don't know what else to do. Their parents have no money to help them. Prom Queen can't find work. And Mick's meager salary is set by his original contract. They've done their best to avoid credit card use. They're pinching pennies as much as possible--Prom Queen hasn't bought a new shirt in months--yet they need help. Not even Bill E. Bobb's awesome powers can rescue them.<br /><br />Mickey tries to put these things out of his mind. He goes to the park each day, hoping beyond hope that he will soon be promoted. He knows he has talent, but so do many others. The chances of reaching the big leagues are slim, but he must continue to believe.<br /><br />Each day he signs a few autographs before entering the clubhouse. Playing for his new team in the Midwest League, <a href="http://www.sportsbusinessdaily.com/article/97603">seven or eight thousand people</a> watch him play each night. These people cheer him, and many already know his name. Being an All-Star the previous year, he's one of the centerpieces of his new team's marketing strategy. He's on the cover of the program and will routinely make visits to schools. He talks to the local press and makes radio appearances. And Mick never turns down the opportunity to say hi to a kid.<br /><br />The minor league team will directly benefit from these things, but they will <a href="http://minorleaguelife.blogspot.com/2009/10/rock-band-manchester-orchestra.html">pay no part of his salary</a>. They won't even help with housing. Instead, the major league team will pay his salary, and they have no incentive to increase it. After all, with only a small percentage of minor leaguers contributing at the big league level, it's in their best interest to pay minor leaguers as little as possible. Constantly in a battle with the MLBPA--which does not represent minor leaguers--they try to use almost all their resources on the big league budget. </div><br />While Mickey's at the field each day, Prom Queen goes to the grocery store. As she approaches the register, she takes the food stamps out of her purse, hoping that nobody will recognize her as a ballplayer's wife. Having paid for the food, she grabs her bags and quickly walks out with her head cast slightly towards the ground. More than ever, she misses the simplicity of her Cottonmouth youth with every step that she takes.<br /><div> </div><div> </div><div> </div><div><br /></div>gbroshuishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04209222117346858634noreply@blogger.com18